SECTOR 2 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: 1.0 (2005: n/a; 2007: n/a; 2009: 1.8; 2011: 1.4) 2.7 All media fairly represent the voices of both women and men. While panellists felt there had been some improvement in recent years in the way in which the media represent the views of both men and women, in general, issues continue to be portrayed from a gender-biased perspective. Sources for hard news, such as politics, business and economics, tend to be male, while for what is considered ‘softer’ news - such as issues pertaining to children or the abuse of women – women’s voices are sought. On particular issues, prominent members of society (the “darlings of the media”) tend to be drawn on for comment regularly and there is not a diversity of sources. “We see the same faces and hear the same voices.” The Swazi media continues to present women in stereotypical ways and there is a strong tendency to report in a sensational, rather than sensitive manner. Recent articles on baby dumping have labelled women as “baby killers”. “Women, at the end of the day, tend to be degraded and humiliated in the media, and presented as objects to be used by men. A woman known to have had an affair with a man would be blamed for being promiscuous and of loose morals, while the man involved would be presented positively.” Panellists felt this was strongly related to culture and tradition, with Swazi society being predominantly male-dominated. Print newsrooms tend to be run by men and have a majority of male journalists. Female journalists sometimes have to go out of their way to convince their editors that it is worthwhile publishing articles on gender-based violence, for example. Women in Swaziland tend to avoid taking a public stand on hard issues, especially politics, and thus resist talking to the media. This makes it difficult for journalists to provide the necessary gender balance of their news sources. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER Swaziland 2014 37