SECTOR 2 Media coverage of women seems to be a reflection of Zambian society, tradition and culture. “The challenge is not only for the media, but across Zambian society,” where the message from media is that those who are worthy are men. “We need to change the strategy across the board” to ensure that women in all places have a space to participate, through editorial policies, for example. The Times of Zambia has a gender mainstreaming policy. “It’s a mind-set issue and not a policy issue.” The Daily Mail has a gender desk with an allocation of three pages in the main paper. The role of the gender desk is to highlight issues such as women in leadership, business and fashion as well as discrimination based on gender. However, separating women’s issues from mainstream issues is problematic, and does not ensure that women’s voices are being heard. Various mainstream issues with a strong gender perspective are being “edited out in the mainstream media”, and many political and human interest stories are being taken up via internet blogs, which is one platform where women are well represented. Overall, there have been some developments, with certain deliberate steps to ensure coverage on how women are affected by specific issues, but as one panellist explained: “one has to strike the delicate balance of what will sell”. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 38 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ZAMBIA 2013 2.3 (2011:1.8; 2009: 2.3; 2007: n/a; 2005: n/a)