SECTOR 2

2.7 All media fairly reflect the voices of both women
and men.
In the last two years the media houses appeared to have made more effort to
adopt a gender code of ethics. The Media Council of Tanzania also has a code
of ethics, with a specific section on gender, and which is available to the media.
However, this equitable approach to the news is largely not practiced and men’s
voices dominate the Tanzanian media.
A study conducted on Gender and Media Progress Study by the gender equality
advocacy NGO, Gender and Media Southern Africa (GEMSA) Tanzania, showed
that women’s voices accounted for just 21 per cent of news sources. While this
may seem low, it is an improvement on the figures from the 2003 GEMSA Gender
and Media Baseline Study where women’s voices stood at just 16 per cent.
Panellists noted that some newspapers, such as the Guardian and Mwananchi,
publish regular women’s features and supplements, while many television stations
have programmes focusing on women and girls.
“The situation is improving, but not to the extent that we want it to. More
efforts are needed. Coverage of women is not always positive in the media, and
advertising, especially, tends to stereotype women negatively.”

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:

3.4 (2010 = 2.7; 2008 = n/a; 2006 = n/a)

AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER TANZANIA 2012

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