CHAPTER 4: AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER THEMATIC TRENDS: 2011-2021 The AMB summaries invariably highlight the persistence of patriarchal attitudes and tendencies in the coverage of women by news media. This is attributed to socio-cultural perspectives, although the media’s role in entrenching these could be emphasised. The 2015 AMB for Nigeria noted that “bias against women has not completely gone away. Men’s views are still favoured when discussing ‘important’ issues like politics, business, conflicts and current affairs”. The subsequent AMB of 2019 also noted that “the media have failed to break ranks with a society that has remained vastly patriarchal”. Likewise, the 2018 AMB for Senegal notes that “when women are the subject of press articles, it is usually because they are victims of abuse or their rights have been violated”. The 2015 AMB for Zimbabwe noted that “while there has been an improvement in gender representation, women continue to be stereotyped and caricatured in some media”. The 2020 AMB for Zimbabwe did not reflect a significant improvement in this state of affairs. It also observed that “there are a few cases of positive coverage of women, and stereotypes (regarding both men and women) continue to be reinforced”. A conspicuous omission in the AMB summaries is that of LGBTQI people about whom there is little commentary. Where their concerns are "A conspicuous omission in the AMB summaries is that of LGBTQI people about whom there is little commentary." raised, they only feature as a cursory point of reference, which is overtly done in the AMBs for Malawi and Benin. The 2016 AMB for Malawi noted that the country’s media “is steadily opening up for discussion of LGBTI issues”, while the 2021 AMB for Benin noted that “the media does not promote equal opportunities, regardless of race or ethnic origin, social group, gender or sex, religion, disability and age”. It asserted that “in a society that has not fully integrated minorities such as homosexual, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people, it is difficult for the media to give them comprehensive coverage”. From these examples, it can be argued that the media, which is expected to highlight social practices that undermine the full expression of citizenship and the self-determination of oppressed social groups and individuals in Africa, seem to be failing to meet this remit. Another significant observation is that the AMB summaries do not speak consistently about gender issues, which is an area that may require more focused attention in the future. 21 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER 11 YEARS IN REVIEW