SECTOR 2 2.7 All media fairly reflect the voices of both women and men. The language used by media is not inclusive, but exclusive, and perpetuates Namibia’s patriarchal society Media reports tend to underplay what women do. The sources for stories tend to be predominantly male. “Even if the victim of a crime is a woman, more men than women will be interviewed. There are more male journalists than women, and there is a huge gap in reporting that reflects more positively on men than women.” Several factors work against women being sources of news. Most of the country’s parliamentarians and local authority politicians are men. Most of the people providing political and economic analyses are men. “Even women think it’s better to interview men, because they think they are better sources. That is the way we are socialised.” Meanwhile, women hang back from commenting to the media because they feel “we are not up to scratch”. “We never hear discussions about men getting raped in jails, for example, or of domestic violence against men. But when violence against women is reported, it is sensationalised. There is no empathy, no examination or explanation of the situation, no contextualisation.” Much of this is a result of lazy journalism. “We want the quick and fast story. But it is our duty as journalists to chase the story and to get a balance of opinions. It might take longer to get an opinion from a woman, but you get more information from the woman when you do.” Some panellists felt the situation is improving. “There is more awareness among journalists and women are becoming braver. But there is still a long way to go.” 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: 36 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER NAMIBIA 2011 1.8 (2005: n/a; 2007: n/a; 2009: n/a)