Media Coverage Gender Issues Nigeria Pdf
ABSTRACTBackground and Problem StatementThe under-representation of women in the media has been studied extensively in the developed world context: Women are rarely given professional coverage with regards to key business, political and economic issues, and this gender bias also extends to other spheres such as news, sports and leisure. This lack of representation of women has profound consequences on the image of women as competent leaders in society and as role-models. It leads to the perpetuation of the patriarchal mode and excludes female sensibility and insight in the decision-making process.
Media Gender Issues
Gender-based studies on media-coverage in the context of developing countries, however, are relatively scarce.ObjectivesThe primary aim of this work is to analyse the media representation of women from a developing world context. For this purpose, a gender-based analysis of News coverage, professional interventions, participation in the political debate, and sports reports has been carried out. The extent to which women are utilised as a marketing tool in newspaper adverts, and the way they are portrayed as sex objects, are also analysed. In order to have to take a deep-insight into the present gender-coverage situation, the way women are portrayed in these reports has also been dissected as well.MethodologyA three-years review (July 2008-June 2011) of the two popular weekly newspaper publications has been carried-out so as to have a clear picture of the present situation with regards to gender representation in economic, political and social spheres. In addition, a structured-interview schedule has also been applied to a representative sample of journalists so as to gather their views on the present media coverage of women.Key FindingsWhat emerges out of this study is that the present newspaper coverage is much more tilted towards men than in the developed-world context.
Women arevirtually invisible in the economic and political debate, as well as in professional interventions and local sports reports. Even worse is the fact that, whilst men clearly have their voice heard on national issues, women are present mostly in reports on domestic violence, sexual abuse and family issues and are referred to as average citizens and rarely as experts.
Gender Issues In The Workplace
Also, newspaper reports portray women in a much more negative and degrading manner.On the other side, even if journalists are conscious that men pre-dominate in terms of media coverage, they generally under-estimate the extent of this gendered media coverage and its biased contents, considering the present situation as being normal and reasonable.Originality/ ValueThis work contributes to the scarce literature on gender and media coverage in the context of a developing African country. It presents a clear picture of the actual situation, analysing the level of under-representation of women in specific areas. It also outlines the views of journalists on the present situation, and proposes important steps to move towards greater gender-equity in media-coverage in a developing-world context.References.