Kenya
4.4

Gender mainstreaming is promoted in terms of equal participation of both sexes in the production process.

ANALYSIS:
Over the last ten years the representation of women in leading positions of the mainstream media has improved “quite a lot” There
are now five women in key editorial jobs. Especially Nation and
Standard are committed to gender mainstreaming, while making a
point of basing promotions on merit and not on the mere fact of a
candidate being female. Earlier, male attitudes had put women off,
but the environment has changed and there is now more respect for
professionalism and thus equitable opportunities. The best reporters and photo journalists are said to be women, but there are very
few female correspondents in the rural areas, given the difficult
conditions of work in the field.
SCORES:
Individual scores:

5,4,4,2,3,4,3,4,5,4,4

Average score:

3.8

4.5

Gender mainstreaming is reflected in the editorial content.

ANALYSIS:
There have been improvements towards more balanced coverage in
regard to gender but a lot remains to be desired as traditional biases persist. Many stories are still covered from a male perspective.
News sources are mostly male. The full picture of women’s role in
all sectors is not mirrored, e.g. in reporting on agricultural activities which are carried out overwhelmingly by women (80 %).
The reason cited is the conventional way of reporting with journalists bringing their stereotypes into the newsrooms. The entry of
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African Media Barometer - Kenya 2005

Select target paragraph3