SECTOR 2 Panellists concurred that women are also very under-represented professionally in newsrooms, making it harder for women’s voices to be heard on certain issues. ‘It’s also a question of how things are framed. With the Marikana massacre, for example, women’s voices were silent until they were actually pulled out.’ Women also tend to be stereotyped in terms of topics and are rarely called upon by the mainstream media to discuss certain subjects (such as science). 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: ✓ ✓✓ ✓ ✓✓ ✓✓✓✓ ✓ ✓ 2.5 (2013: 1.7; 2010: 2.6; 2008: n/a; 2006: n/a) 2.8 All media fairly represent the voices of society and its minorities in its ethnic, linguistic, religious diversity Panellists agreed that the full nature and diversity of South African society was not reflected in the news media, as views abound from the perspective of the largely urban, English-speaking, middle-class population. ‘It goes without saying that in South Africa, the white minority (less than 8% of the population) is still overwhelmingly represented.’ However, MMA research has shown that whites are represented on average 1015% in news stories, while black representation is around 70%.6 A panellist noted that because English crossed many ethnic groups, it was a predominant mode of communication in the media. ‘Indigenous broadcasting is not always embraced. It’s more a question of social power and capital and there are many factors that have a role to play. Just look at how Afrikaans was promoted during apartheid and its ideological and political impact.’ There appears to be a skewed representation in terms of language in the mainstream news media, with stories of former English universities tending to 6 28 Also findings across various research reports over the years, some examples include: https://www.mediamonitoringafrica. org/elections.mediamonitoringafrica.org/2016/southafrica/coverage/. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER SOUTH AFRICA 2018