SECTOR 2 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: 1.6 (2010 = 2.1; 2008 = n/a; 2006 = n/a) 2.7 All media fairly reflect the voices of both women and men. When it comes to sources, male input tends to dominate the media in Malawi. Panellists felt that the media makes a concerted effort to include women’s voices but women remain reluctant to speak. “Women are the biggest culprits: they don’t want to talk, whether they are in positions of power or villagers.” The lack of women’s participation in this regard appears to be a cultural issue: in the structure of Malawian society, men traditionally make the decisions, and this extends to professional issues as well. Panellists noted that this issue is gradually improving, however. “Until Joyce (Banda) came to power, Malawi has been a man’s world. It remains to be seen if she will make a difference, culturally.” A Gender Links Gender and Media Progress Study conducted in 2010 found that women as news sources in Malawi had increased to 20 percent from the 11 percent recorded in the 2003 Gender and Media Baseline Study. Most of the news stories in Malawi are not human-interest issues, but seek professional opinions on topical and national issues. However, there are still very few women in decision-making positions in Malawi, and even those few who are decision makers, are not willing to speak publicly. Largely, women appear to be represented in the media in vulnerable (victims of rape, domestic violence etc) or titillating positions. 32 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER MALAWI 2012