CHAPTER 4: AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER THEMATIC TRENDS: 2011-2021 challenges centre around three major issues: the need for continuous training for journalists; the need to adopt and implement both an internal and a general code of ethics; and the establishment of strong labour unions or associations for journalists. 4.7 Gender dynamics The AMB summaries did not emphasise the gender dynamics in African media. However, they highlighted two important issues: the inclusion of women in newsrooms and patriarchal attitudes towards the coverage of women by news media. These are both discussed below. The AMB summaries acknowledged the progressive, albeit still unsatisfactory, inclusion of women in newsrooms and leadership positions. The 2016 AMB for Côte d’Ivoire noted that “in spite of the existence, since 2014, of a Charter on Gender Equality in the media professions, media houses are still struggling to ensure a place for women in their content. Equal opportunity is promoted in the Ivorian press, but women occupy few positions of responsibility”. The same trend was identified in the 2018 AMB for South Africa, where it was observed that “women continue to be marginalised in the newsrooms”. Although this AMB acknowledged that “the number of women reporters has increased”, it also pointed out that “there are very few women at editorial and management levels”. The 2021 AMB for Benin mentioned that the media did not give much space to women, although their access to the media was not restricted. In addition, this AMB highlighted that only a very small percentage of women were promoted in private and state media. It was also noted in the 2019 AMB for Ethiopia that “there is a glaring lack of gender diversity in the media”, a situation attributed to the country’s “patriarchal society where men are considered to be above women in status and power”. The 2016 AMB for Kenya confirmed the marginalisation of women, noting that few were in editorial positions and that there was a lack of affirmative action policies to address such gaps. The 2017 AMB for Ghana observed that “women media practitioners have also failed to organise themselves in an association, and thus there are very few gender and media activities in the country”. More significantly, the same report also observed that “many newsrooms have no sexual harassment policies or policies that work to promote women to editorial and management levels”. These tendencies have a stubborn prevalence across the continent. 20 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER 11 YEARS IN REVIEW