Uzma T. Haroon
uzma@sdpi.org
Gender sensitization has become the buzzword for the past few years with some awareness in this context having been created among individuals, civil society and organizations in the public and private sectors. Creating awareness about gender sensitization is indeed an uphill task as changing attitudes and practices can take decades.
Media plays an important role in bringing about change in society. The messages that are played and replayed through media go a long way in determining the mindsets of the reader, audience and viewer. This has seen the realization and implementation of gender-sensitizing projects in various sectors within Pakistan.
One such project initiated and funded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) was in partnership with the country's state-controlled television, i.e. the Pakistan Television or PTV. The Portrayal of Women in Media lasted for five years (two preparatory years and three years as a full-fledged project), ending in 2002. It aimed at sensitizing media professionals of the PTV and members of private media houses to end stereotype images on the screen.
During the life cycle of the project, numerous gender sensitization and capacity-building trainings were organized apart from funding the production of gender-sensitive television programs. The project also led to the establishment of gender committees at PTV centers that met periodically to discuss gender discrimination either at the level of the programs or at the organizational level. These committees had an informal structure and their meetings depended on the availability of the general manager of each PTV center. These committees, however, were not part of formal PTV policy.
One criticism of the project was that despite its existence for five years, one could simultaneously see gender discrimination or portrayal of stereotypical roles on television. However, it must be realized that in terms of magnitude, the project was only a drop in the ocean and it was too much to expect that it alone would have eliminated gender discrimination in an organization comprising 7000 employees who produced dozens of programs every week.
Moving towards the print media, attempts have been made to develop a sensitized code of ethics. The need is especially felt when the print media plays upon images and stories that not only portray and reinforce the stereotypes, but are also gender discriminatory. A particular case constantly reminds one of how the print media can play a negative role. A few years ago, a young woman was murdered brutally in Islamabad. Certain newspapers made it a point to assassinate the victim's character in a manner that justified the crime. As if that was not enough, some of the newspapers printed the picture of the slaughtered head. The portrayal and reporting of the case was not only gender-biased, it was also grotesque and insensitive.
A gender sensitive code of ethics for the print media was the subject of the regional conference held recently in Islamabad organized by Uks, a research, resource and publication center on women and media. Delegates from neighboring countries including Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka had been invited to present a picture of their countries and share their views on how a gender-sensitized code of ethics could be created. What they discussed at the forum highlights that countries in the region face a situation similar to the one in Pakistan.
As has been the case in Pakistan, Nepal too has seen the increase of women working in both print and electronic media. However, where decision-making is concerned, women lag behind in positions of policy-making in Nepal, as revealed by Bandana Rana, Executive President of Sancharika Samuha, an NGO working alongside the Nepali media to promote mass awareness on gender issues. Only a few women have made it to the top positions while men continue to dominate the policy-making arena in media.
As far as the coverage of women related issues is concerned in Nepal, they are marked by sensationalism and stereotypical portrayals. However, observes Bandana Rana, with an increase in awareness regarding gender discrimination, along with increased protests from women's groups, some of the media's negative portrayal and representation of women has toned down, becoming more subtle in the last few years. “However, it is still rare that the media present women as contributors to the development process or as professionals in their own field,” she informed the audience at the conference.
Similarly, female journalists in Bangladesh are given soft beats such as culture or children's issues and hard beats such as politics and finance are given to the male colleagues. Women are encouraged to take up desk jobs in newspapers rather than fieldwork such as reporting. As reported by Munima Sultana, reporter and sub-editor, United News of Bangladesh, according to one study of students at a Mass Communication department, male students were found to be discouraging female students from taking up the profession. Further, not a single female student was found to be working as the university correspondent in any of the universities. The situation remains unchanged.
Sharing the Bangladesh experience, Munima Sultana observed that women become news in the Bangladesh media when they are raped, killed, kidnapped, tortured or are found to be involved in a criminal act. Very few stories portray them in a positive manner and in a language that is gender-sensitive. Even where their achievements are being reported, such as in sports, they are highlighted more from the point of view of sex appeal rather than being gender neutral. “In development news, women are highlighted only to show the success of development organizations as there is donor money involved,” revealed Munima Sultana.
Nepal does have a press council. But the council mainly deals with general media issues and has not dealt with improving the portrayal of women in media. This is similar to press clubs in Pakistan that also mostly take up general issues and are dominated by male journalists. The Nepali press council recently updated the code of conduct for journalists. However, the updated version also refers only marginally to the issues of gender and sexuality. The Bangladesh Press Council has declared 22 codes of ethics. “But the codes are hardly followed or even known by journalists,” asserted Munima Sultana, adding, “journalists and media organizations rather practice self-censorship or style-sheets and code of conducts in publishing reports.” Further, in Bangladesh, only three to four codes pertain to gender issues, leaving out many areas of gender concern.
Bandana Rana's analysis is that building the ownership of the code of ethics is much more important than developing the code itself. “What is the point of having a code if the media does not pay heed to it and its regulation? Therefore, the process of producing the code in partnership with concerned stakeholders, particularly the press, may be more important than the code itself.” She supports the idea that the most effective code can be the one that the media create themselves rather than the ones imposed on the media.
On the other hand, Munima Sultana's concern is the need to take into account the changing media scenario and various forms of media that have come into existence, including the internet and interactive communication technologies that allow users access from different parts of the world. She raises the concern that globalization and the free market economy have made available all kinds of information to people of all ages, some of which can have negative impact on the users, especially on children and women.
These are but only a few concerns raised by voices from Nepal and Bangladesh. Pakistan and its neighbors face similar challenges in sensitizing the media, both at the level of representation of gender in media as well as at the organization level. Where the regional neighbors are collaborating in other areas and building partnerships, it would be worthwhile to sustain a partnership between like-minded individuals and organizations that are working towards promoting a media that is more gender sensitized.
PDF Format
