SECTOR 2 Journalists on the panel said media try to approach women for comment, but women are not always willing to speak out. “Whenever I have been approached I have spoken out,” replied a female panellist, suggesting that she was not approached very often, despite being a prominent civil society activist. “Women’s voices abound in traditional female roles. At a political level it is less so. The media is reflecting society in that respect.” There is a severe gender imbalance among decision makers in the country, which limits the number of potential female news sources: only nine of the country’s 95 parliamentarians are women, while ministers and heads of companies tend to be male. “But more women are becoming more up-front, more women are becoming newsmakers. Therefore, society is changing.” Considerable effort has been made to sensitise and put pressure on editors to make their coverage more gender sensitive. “We have encouraged reporters to look for the woman’s voice in stories. ... We have the activist women who want to have a say. But there are other women in this society who it’s difficult to get comment from. They don’t understand how the media operates, or they are taught that women shouldn’t have a say.” 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: 3.4 (2009: 3.1; 2007 and 2005: n/a) 2.8 All media fairly reflect the voices of society in its ethnic, linguistic, religious, political and social diversity. The media gives a fair reflection of the country’s social diversity, but not its politics. When it comes to politics, “voices of convenience” [backing the current status quo] also dominate the media. State run radio and television do not reflect political views that disagree with government: ���They are not even shy about not giving voice to particular people.” The views from all four political parties that are 36 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER SWAZILAND 2011