SECTOR 4 4.4. Equal opportunities regardless of race, social group, gender/sex, religion, disabilities and age are promoted in media houses. Some media houses have adopted the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) policy on non-discrimination. In fact, women hold 73 percent of jobs in media “the highest in the region.” As such, panellists felt that women are being advanced in terms of careers in the media. However, there is a lack of children’s participation in the country’s media. MISA is piloting a project to look at promoting children’s rights through their involvement in the media. This will entail holding focus group discussions with primary school children, as well as training journalists on writing articles “There is a trend about children. The idea is to involve children in the production of media in the future. towards equal People with disabilities are also under represented in the media. opportunities” Five years ago, 13 media houses developed equal opportunity policies in order to “change the HR atmosphere.” Panellists said that policies have had a positive impact. “There is a trend towards equal opportunities,” a panellist stated, adding that at PCFM, for example, both male and female managers exist. “Media that serve a particular community tend to employ people from that community. For example, church media tend only to employ people from their particular church, while political media tend only to employ people from that particular political party.” 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: 4.2 (2008 = n/a; 2006 = n/a) AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER LESOTHO 2010 55