SECTOR 2

“you see
testosterone
in our media,
parading as gods
but not doing half
the things that
women do.”

Another female panellist countered: “But the women in these
positions were taken there in a wheelbarrow (for the sake of
filling quotas), and don’t know what they are saying. So how
can the media report what they say?”
There are exceptions, and Informative was commended for
profiling positive female role models. But, by and large, “you
see testosterone in our media, parading as gods but not doing
half the things that women do.”
There is little to no coverage of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender and inter-sex (LGBTI) community.

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: 			

2.8 (2008 =n/a; 2006 = n/a)

2.8
All media fairly reflect the voices of society in
its ethnic, linguistic, religious, political and social
diversity.
Socially, the media covers only certain ethnic groups and religions. When it comes
to politics, the state media tends to promote the ruling party while the private
media tends to favour the opposition.
Panelists felt that PCFM was the only broadcaster that gave space to sections of
society that have been sidelined, such as young or gay or HIV-positive people. On
the print media’s side, Informative has tried to do the same, although it became
“disheartened” in its coverage of the LGBTI community because few LGBTI
people wanted to speak openly, making reporting difficult.

34

AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER LESOTHO 2010

Select target paragraph3