SECTOR 4 Some panellists noted that although media houses try to promote women media practitioners to management level, the better women do not stay for long, “so there’s no one to choose from. They are busy engineering ways to get out of there and join NGOs, and it’s difficult to get them to the top.” Women often end up going into Public Relations and communications, while others change their professions completely. This is partly due to the demands that women face both in the workplace and at home. “Most females in the newsroom, for example, have to go home by 5pm to take care of their families, etc.” Most media houses do not have a gender policy. Zimpapers currently has a draft policy, and FAMWZ is working on having more media houses adopt such policies. Safety (e.g. issues around having to work late to cover stories), job security (e.g. contracts that conform to labour laws and provide for maternity leave), patriarchy (including mentoring, and the implications thereof), sexual harassment and so forth are among the issues that also need to be addressed. “Because of the differences between males and females, there are many things that one can do or say, without realising issues of male privilege or ‘blind spots’. “It’s not only about how you (males) feel in your newsroom is, but also about how the females feel in the newsroom. Are we creating our media rooms in such a way that they accommodate women?” With regards to equal opportunities for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) employees, no problems have been reported. In terms of equal opportunity for disabled people, again, no issues have been reported, but panellists noted that “the issue of practicality in the context of the media house would have to be considered.” Even where disabled people are unable to physically chase stories, “they can help with editorial research.” The freelance contributor (at The Daily News) recognised as “the best cricket writer in Zimbabwe” is blind. With all the issues of diversity noted above, panellists emphasised the need for mainstreaming and creating a “mind shift” in terms of how these issues are viewed. 62 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ZIMBABWE 2015