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: 2.6 (2010: 2.2; 2008: n/a; 2006: n/a) 2.7 All media fairly reflect the voices of both women and men. Women remain unfairly represented in the media. According to a Gender Links Gender and Media Baseline Study in 2003, the proportion of women sources in the news in South Africa was 19%. This increased marginally to 20% in the follow-up Gender and Media Progress Study in 2010. There have been no more recent studies in this regard. “The representation of women in the media is not just about if they are used as sources or not; it is also how they are represented. The gratuitous half-naked images of women on page 3 (of some tabloids) fail to represent the broad spectrum of women and their issues. The media still stereotypes soft issues as ‘women’s issues’, and the representation of issues about violence against women tends to exclude input from men.” Panellists also felt that the ownership of media houses – most of which are run as ‘boys’ clubs’ – impacts on how women are represented in the media. “Issues about women are often lumped with those about children and people with disabilities, as if these are all people who need extra help or who are half-wits. The name of the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities says it all. Women are often represented in the media as a homogenous group with similar needs, but this is not the reality.” There was a sense that male and female journalists were both guilty of sourcing comment from the same sources – ‘the usual suspects’ – and not making an effort to seek out new voices, especially in terms of women. In addition, when it comes to representatives in society, most of them are men, so it is natural that the media will source their comment, rather than that of someone in a less senior position. 38 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER SOUTH AFRICA 2013