4.5 Gender mainstreaming is reflected in the editorial content. ANALYSIS: Gender mainstreaming is not a priority for the media and is largely viewed as a foreign concept. As such, reporting can often be gender blind and perpetuate gender prejudices. The prevailing feeling is that “women’s voices are silent.” Research by MISA Swaziland showed that 23% of all sources in news stories were female. Reporters are partly to blame for overlooking female sources, but the low representation of women’s voices also reflects the reluctance of women to speak to the media. Culturally it is the men who do the talking, so even if reporters do try to use female sources, they may often fail. Swazi society is still very much a male-dominated culture and the media tends to reinforce this rather than challenge it. Though high-profile women often get media coverage, positive stories of ordinary women are extremely rare because “they don’t sell.” MISA Swaziland’s study on the reporting of the 16 Days Campaign Against Gender Violence in 2006 showed that the campaign received very little coverage in print and even less on radio and TV. Many gender violence stories during that period perpetuated gender stereotypes, ignored the gender perspective and often gave unfair portrayals of the abused women. SCORES: Individual scores: Average score: 4.6 2, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3 2.3 (2005=1.7) Journalists and editors do not practice self-censorship. ANALYSIS: Self-censorship is common across all media. There are four key areas where the media exercise self-censorship: the monarchy and traditional authorities, culture, media owners and advertisers. Content that may be deemed critical of the King or the Queen Mother is automatically a no-go area for the media. The Times was threatened with closure earlier in the year when it published a story that claimed the country’s economic decline was in part due to the unchecked spending of the King and his large family. The media is very careful not to criticise polygamy because this is seen as a direct criticism of the King. The cultural expectation that elders must be respected means self-censorship also extends to senior traditional figures: “There are certain things you can’t say about senior people with status.” The lack of land tenure is a contributing factor to this type of self-censorship. If a journalist criticises the traditional authorities they can risk land expulsion for themselves or members of their family. Chiefs can exert a lot of “subtle and insidious” pressure on journalists (“Whose land is this?”). The media often censor their reporting on cultural issues as well because “some (cultural) subjects are taboo.” For example, the media don’t cover all the goings-on at incwala (the King’s annual men’s ritual) and they have in the past censored the real meaning of rituals at umhlanga (the Reed Dance). Those who dare to expose cultural “secrets” are labelled unSwazi. So This Is Democracy? 2007 -245- Media Institute of Southern Africa