African Media and Conflict
By Abiodun Onadipe and David Lord
Part Two - The Media in Africa
In Part Two, we look at some of the constraints on the media in Africa, its role in conflict, the impacts of conflict on the media and how gender issues, in general and during conflict in particular, are treated by the media. Much of the information is based on discussions with individual journalists in West and Southern Africa and is not a comprehensive survey of the issues. It does however, reflect many of the day-to-day realities of working journalists in these African regions and their longer-term concerns about the profession.
Constraints
Media practitioners in Africa are beset by all the economic, social and political ills affecting the diverse environments they work in. Nonetheless, the continent is home to a remarkable number of world-class and expertly produced newspapers and magazines, such as Nigeria's The Guardian, The Nation in Kenya, Benin's Echo du jour, The Mail & Guardian of South Africa, The Independent in Ghana, Zambia's The Post and others. Africa No.1, the French-language radio network based in Libreville, Gabon, now claims to have approximately 31 million listeners and is rapidly closing the gap with Radio France Internationale and the BBC. Meanwhile, local private FM radio licensing has been on the increase. These success stories and promising trends show that while myriad restrictions and problems have adversely affected the professional development of the media in Africa, there remains a huge and unsatisfied hunger for news and a willingness on the part of journalists to provide it.
One of the major weaknesses of African media, especially the print media, is its glaring deficiency in reaching rural people, who make up the majority of the population. Even though there has been some growth in the vernacular press in some countries, radio remains a more cost-effective option than rural newspaper coverage and distribution. However, availability does not mean that African listeners are being well-served. The quality of information carried by radio is often very poor.
It is clear that even in peacetime most of Africa's media face a day-to-day struggle for survival and that these challenges become magnified during conflict situations. The main constraints on the media in Africa can be summed up in terms of: management, equipment, economics and politics.
Economics
In general, weak national economies have a direct impact on the viability of newspapers and independent radio and television, and severely limit their ability to communicate effectively. Small or weak media markets also render media houses vulnerable to dependence on government advertising, funding from external non-governmental organisations, or on predominantly commercial formats, that leave little room for quality news and public information programming.
African newspapers are afflicted by low to non-existent profits and generally low sales figures caused by the declining buying power of people: prices are escalating -- the average newspaper cover price is often less than 50 cents, but when compared with what an average worker earns, to buy a newspaper is not a priority. Sales are further undermined by radio stations’ early morning reviews of newspapers. "They do not just give you a synopsis of the major stories, they actually read everything, so most people just listen to the review and don't buy newspapers. It is only those that have business to do with news organisations that ultimately buy," stressed one print journalist. This situation has sharply divided editors. On one hand they love the publicity when radio outlets pick their newspapers for reviews, thus connecting their papers with good stories. On the other hand, it cuts into sales.
Uneconomical distribution practices also present a sizeable problem for already cash-strapped newspaper companies. Major newspapers seem to take pride in owning fleets of vehicles to distribute their products, often only 2,500 to 5,000 copies. This could easily be done by commercial distribution firms at lower cost and for various other newspapers at the same time, which would free up funds. In many African countries, display advertising is very hard to come by for the independent media because advertisers tend to believe that if they patronise such organisations they will run afoul of the government. "Because of the polarisation in the country, most of our revenue is derived from direct sales," noted a Togolese journalist.
In Nigeria, journalists have been made painfully aware of the power of petrodollars. "Shell has some power over the media which is inimical to the way its operations are covered by the press," one journalist said. "It targets its adverts to those papers that have treated them kindly. And in the current economic climate, such adverts, often going over 10 pages, are indeed very lucrative."
Many reporters and editors are not paid well and/or on time, forcing them to take on other jobs to make ends meet, compromise their professional integrity by accepting bribes -- the "brown envelope syndrome", or indulge in other illegal practices, such as blackmail. There are moves to reduce the pervasiveness of these practices, which have become a fact of life for journalists in Africa. A case in point is that of Crocodile, a leading Togolese independent newspaper, which allows its journalists to take on second jobs as long as the management is informed what the job entails and that there is no conflict of interest. One Crocodile journalist teaches part-time, while another helps a relative run a filling station.
In some cases it is difficult for journalists to move from one media organisation to another, so much so that mobility is non-existent. "People are not brave enough to change jobs at all, talk less of frequently, because opportunities are not as numerous as they should be," indicated a Ghanaian journalist. In such a tight job market journalists resort to almost anything to keep their jobs.
There are wide disparities between different African countries in terms of numbers of media outlets, working conditions and journalists’ salaries. Liberian journalists earn as little as US$10 a month, a direct result of the seven-year civil war. (There were some claims that reporters for the Liberian News Agency take home about half that amount. Government ministers earn about US$20.) A similar low-pay situation has existed in Sierra Leone for a long time, according to a Sierra Leonean journalist, which has led to ‘pay-yourself’ schemes, where journalists use their identity cards to earn money outside of work. "They write for reward, sometimes bordering on blackmail," the participant said. This has adversely affected the profession in many ways: proliferation of unviable newspapers, often concentrated in the capital, and an erosion of credibility. In other countries, especially the French-speaking ones, salaries are slightly better, ranging between US$50 and US$250 monthly, depending on whether the organisation is private or state-owned. The latter are usually less well-paid.
Management
New print technology and the new-found willingness of many African governments to allow dissenting voices to be heard has led to a proliferation of oftentimes ephemeral publications in Malawi, Sierra Leone, Benin and elsewhere. Management problems have been exacerbated by this increase in the number of media outlets, media ownership problems and the exit of experienced hands for various reasons. The targeting of journalists in conflict situations has been one factor in people leaving the profession, but usually the reasons are more mundane, such as the inability to support a family on the meagre wages of a journalist. Turnover within the profession has had the effect of pushing young, inexperienced hands into positions they are professionally unprepared for.
In general, many media organisations are not properly run, their managers often too tightly focused on financial returns or constrained by political concerns. Inexperience is a major problem among editorial staff and managers. But while some newly upwardly mobile managers merely lack experience, others are foisted on editorial staff by owners for political reasons or for reasons of nepotism or clientism. The end result is often poor direction. Working journalists also complain of the absence of communication between managers and editorial staff, which leaves them working in a vacuum. In some cases, the wage bills of organisations are so top-heavy that the combined salaries of top managers -- who might not number more than ten, most of them non-journalists -- exceed that of a 150-strong editorial staff.
Specialised management, technological and editorial training is virtually non-existent for the majority of media practitioners. Meanwhile, hard-pressed managers often need convincing that staff development is a necessity rather than a luxury. When it is available, there is little consistency in the training, follow-up, or evaluation of progress, as many media-training organisations seem to prefer the one-off, ad hoc approach. The lack of training affects the economic viability of the profession and the nature of the message and the way it is received by listeners or readers. Media practitioners with no economic or social affairs backgrounding can hardly be expected to examine and be responsibly critical of developments or policies which they are trying to communicate. Sooner than later, inadequate, erroneous or misleading information negates the credibility of the messenger. Meanwhile, mismanagement erodes financial viability, wise use of existing resources, coverage, and staff morale.
A major handicap for editorial staff is low levels of formal education. This translates into a smaller pool of effective communicators than it could be, at the same time, second- or third-language skills -- English, French, Portuguese -- are sometimes rudimentary. This is a direct result of the deterioration of educational standards in many African countries.
Contending that the collapse of educational institutions has adversely affected the media in Nigeria, a veteran journalist lamented, "in our day, there were a number of essential radical books such as Walter Rodney’s How Europe Underdeveloped the World you had to have not only on your bookshelf but in your head. Unfortunately, that tradition has died an unnatural death."
Technology
There is an obvious technical deficit in Africa, both in the appreciation and use of new technology. For instance, there are very low levels of computer literacy because of the limited availability of the technology and the absence of training opportunities. When it is available in media organisations, it often finds its way into the wrong hands. Many of the participants in the consultations complained that essential communication tools such as computers, cell-phones and tape recorders went to accountants and other administrative personnel. Acquiring enough technological tools to go around is usually blocked by prohibitive costs.
Radio transmission facilities, programming studios, recording and editing equipment are scarce, outdated and often in disrepair because of the lack of qualified technicians and spare parts to maintain them. A Ghanaian television journalist complained that video editing suites were at a premium because tape heads are worn out quickly by ‘recycled’ video tapes: "It is really tough for us professionally. We even do not have tapes. As soon as one finishes using a tape it is used for other recording. We have no library of tapes -- even the rushes which could be used for other programmes are not available, so every time reporters need to go out to shoot the same scene time and again. This is basically unproductive use of resources, a waste of time, energy and manpower. In fact, we don't meet deadlines; we are sometimes beaten by newspapers."
The lack of state-of-the art equipment adversely affects news quality and delivery. What is perhaps more tragic is that older or less-sophisticated equipment which is in working order is rarely used to its fullest capacity. For example, radio journalists will use hand-held recorders to tape interviews or speeches and then type up their story and read it on air, rather than editing the actual sound into a news or public affairs item. In a similar vein, adequate recording equipment is not available for remote coverage of events. In Zambia, the state-owned National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) has three cameras and attempts to covers sports events like football matches with just one camera. The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) likewise has three cameras, thus limiting the number of live events that can be covered daily -- when one breaks down, there is a major crisis. However, private television stations, for instance, TV 3 in Ghana, are equipped with modern facilities, including digital equipment and have adopted a generic, multi-skilled approach for their work force.
Newspapers and magazines suffer from similar economic and technical constraints. Many still operate labour-intensive production processes, for instance, using cut-and-paste techniques without even the basic light box, reporters continue to file copy in long-hand for secretaries to type, effectively writing off the development of computer skills of journalists. This is compounded by imprudent use of available equipment and resources, both financial and human, due to misplaced management priorities. Lack of transportation limits the range of a journalist’s coverage. Access to telecommunications is limited and it is very difficult to get a telephone connected in many countries, taking upwards of six months at the very least through official channels. This has invariably affected access to the World Wide Web (though an increasing number of African newspapers now have web sites, it is very much a status issue).
Government levies on imported newsprint and other printing supplies is used to keep a tight leash on the press. In Togo, newspapers have been forced to use uncontrolled but more expensive bond paper, rather than newsprint. Some outside agencies, such as the Panos Institute, have come to the rescue of the private press by helping procure print materials at reasonable rates through bulk buying.
Finally, there are unreliable printing and distribution facilities. Horizon, arguably one of the best-presented papers in Ghana, with 48 pages, folded within a short period for various reasons, including the fact that vendors could not carry its bulk with other newspapers. Ghanaian newspapers, like their Liberian counterparts, are often only four- to eight-pages thick.
"The rapid increase in the cost of production has made the newspaper business a heart-rending venture. The only reason for the existence of many papers in Liberia now is to maintain their side of the bargain to inform, educate and entertain the Liberian people," concluded Marvin Garbeh Davis of The News in Monrovia. This goes to show that there are many committed African journalists who are not just motivated by profitability of their newspapers.
Politics
Many government-controlled radio stations and newspapers have been and are still seen as government mouthpieces. "We have full independence in reporting on anything that is not political," said a Zambian journalist working for a state-owned news organisation in Lusaka. But, he added: "Of course, you understand that politics is part of everything."
The independent press across the continent is often blocked from direct coverage of government bodies, including heads of government, cabinet members and high-level officials. Restricted access demonstrates government paranoia about what the independent press would do with the information -- they are afraid that the information would be used to attack the government.
"The military as an institution believes in a culture of secrecy, that if you have to fight and win wars you must keep your strategies close to your chest. This philosophy has passed into the governance style in West Africa. Military rule does not encourage transparency and this affects the relationship between the government and the media," said one journalist from firsthand experience.
From time to time, according to another participant, the government calls press conferences to "praise government policies", but representatives of the critical papers stay clear for fear of being arrested and detained. Journalists have often been hunted and arrested over issues of public interest, such as the health of the head of state. Interestingly, the independent press were criticised by another participant for promoting political divisions by promoting the political ambitions of their proprietors and often failing to distinquish between reporting factual information and opinion.
Although the boundaries of communication in Africa can seem limitless, timidity on the part of many communicators has been one response to heavy-handed management of the media by governments. In many cases, repression and control of media outlets has inculcated a defeatist attitude among journalists and editors -- the coverage of particular events or trends should not be attempted because of the "political situation" or because so and so would be offended.
Militancy, through collective action, has been one response to perceived attempts by government to stifle press freedom through legal restrictions. For instance in Liberia, the Press Union successfully forced a government climb-down when the information ministry attempted to impose restrictive measures on the profession in March 1998. In Nigeria, the opposition press went underground and took to ‘guerrilla’ journalism to circumvent the military crackdown on the media.
In Zambia, in 1997, technology came to the rescue of a newspaper to which the government had taken offence. The incident revolved around the now celebrated 401 edition of the ‘opposition’ Post, (the other two Zambian dailies the Times and the Mail are state-owned), copies of which the government ordered to be impounded. Realising that the edition had been posted on the paper's website, the government seized the newspaper's computers. Although many Zambians were denied reading the edition that day, downloaded copies found their way back into the country. It became an offence to be caught in possession of Internet copies of that particular edition of the paper.
It is imperative to point out the need to improve the relationship between the media and governments in Africa. Many of the journalists consulted were of the opinion that the media should understand that government should not always be seen in adversarial terms.
"They should not be something we criticise every day. Governments may also do well and we should praise them. But in most cases we often look for what is wrong in something the government has done well, seldom what is good. If there is this confrontational attitude between the government and the media, it is unlikely that they would be very willing to provide ammunition for the press to attack them with," remarked one journalist.
An interesting government-media situation exists in Benin. The independent press is supported by the government through grants and training. However, these grants, although they are approved by Parliament, originated with President Mathieu Kerekou, and are not constitutionally guaranteed. In other words, they can be rescinded by any other government. One Beninois journalist said, "It is good for us to have this support from the government, for the time being, because we need it to strengthen the independent press. If another government takes away this financial crutch, we would have had time to consolidate our position vis-à-vis the state-owned media."
A journalist from neighbouring Togo echoed a similar view: "The state is for everybody. I don't want any money from the president's pocket, but support must come from the government, because journalists provide a public service. As long as this grant is voted for in Parliament and it is transparent, I have no problem with it."
A comparable situation obtains in Mali, where Parliament provides an annual subsidy for independent radio stations. In Burkina Faso the situation is slightly different, with the government targeting its support to more friendly news organisations through a generous grants scheme and turning a blind eye to foreign donor support for the more critical press, because it recognises the high cost of newspaper operations. According to a Burkinabe journalist, the patronising government rationale for this policy is that it wants the media to grow at the same rate as democracy in the country, neither too fast or too slow.
Without doubt, political control and the lack of a sound economic base have a direct bearing on local and national coverage and in coverage of major issues beyond national borders. Reliance on foreign news broadcasts, magazines and wire service reports to provide details of conflicts in other parts of Africa has been one negative result. Another is the penchant of African leaders to routinely announce issues of national significance through the foreign media. The access foreign journalists have to the corridors of power in many African capitals is the envy of their African counterparts -- a sign of the imbalance of credibility on the continent. One glaring example is that global television and radio networks broke the news of the sudden demise of Nigeria's military leader, General Sani Abacha, at least a couple of hours ahead of the local media.
The Media in Conflict
In the numerous conflicts across Africa, reliable information is extremely hard to come by, if not impossible, and clear and effective communication is severely constrained. Not just well-equipped foreign journalists but local reporters and civilian populations are at the mercy of rumour and blocked from providing accurate factual coverage and analysis of events. In an information vacuum, manipulative parties to conflict -- governments and guerrillas -- use information to mobilise support, confuse opponents, create environments of chaos and panic and to "demonise" and "dehumanise" their enemies. Media practitioners themselves can become specific targets of those wanting to silence them, victims of generalised violence and sometimes mouthpieces for parties to conflict.
Writing about Zaire in 1995, Adewale Maja-Pearce noted that the police had been instructed to be vigilant about "press crime" and that: "The practice of journalism itself is made even more difficult by the collapse of the country's infrastructure: telephones don't work, the postal service is barely functioning, and the roads are unsafe. Few Kinshasa-based publications reach the other major cities; virtually none are available in smaller towns."
A year later, The Economist tried to look "Behind the Zairean shambles" that was evolving and describe: "What is going on and why?" However, the newsmagazine was forced to introduce its analysis by stating: "There are few identifiable leaders in the field to supply any easy answers, few observers on the spot to analyse or even see what is happening. Journalists peering into Zaire from Rwanda rely heavily on the broadest and most regular source of information, a United Nations office in Nairobi, which pulls together reports from aid workers in the field and puts them on the Internet. And most aid workers are being pulled out."
In highly fluid military situations, where opposing sides are not easily identifiable and few protagonists respect the neutrality of journalists, the lack of personal security for journalists is a major obstacle to observing and reporting on events. Outright attacks on journalists are common. Inadvertent dangers -- stray bullets, land mines -- also take their toll. In 1994, when 72 journalists were killed on the job or simply because they were journalists, 19 were killed in Algeria, 14 were specifically targeted as journalists in Rwanda and another 30 died in the genocide, three in Somalia, two in South Africa, two in Zaire and one each in Angola and Burundi, according to the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists. This figure was drastically lower in 1997, when only 26 journalists were killed worldwide, either on assignment or as a direct result of their work.
Even if they are operating safely away from the front lines, the media must also cope with governmental and military censorship and sometimes physical intimidation or coercion. Beyond the physical threats to individuals attempting to cover conflict situations, the media, especially newspapers, face serious production and distribution problems. War tends to devastate regular economic activity, disrupt commercial markets and cause scarcity. Media outlets are as vulnerable to the economic effects of violence as any other enterprise.
As has been seen in the case of Radio Milles Collines in Rwanda, the media, with the support or acquiescence of governments or factions, can also be a powerful player in instigating and directing violence, in this case genocide. The use of communication and information as a tool of warfare is still very much part of the Rwandan conflict. In June 1998, the French news agency AFP reported that rebels in north-western Rwanda launched a newsletter Umuchunguzi (Saviour) in Gisenyi to publicise and outline their aims and encourage Rwandans to take up arms against the government. As the rebellion in the eastern part of former Zaire gained momentum in August, hate radio broadcasts re-emerged in the northeast Bunia region, where rebels were said to be pushing towards Bunia town. Unlike former hate radio stations, these broadcasts were being made over government radio. According to media reports, Radio Television Nationale Congolaise in Bunia ordered Congolese people to arm themselves with "a machete, spear, arrow, hoe, spades, rakes, nails, truncheons, irons, barbed wire, stones and the like" to "kill the Rwandan Tutsis" in Ituri district. "Wherever you see a Rwandan Tutsi, regard him as your enemy... Be ferocious. You will detect the enemies and massacre them without mercy."
During the series of consultations with journalists in Accra, Monrovia and Lusaka, many of the participants were well aware of how journalists can aggravate a tense situation, but they also said they had not given much thought to their role in helping to resolve or manage conflict. An incident was cited in Zambia where the Angolan ambassador threatened war with Zambia if its government continued to allow arms to cross the border into Angola. Journalists agreed that the ambassador made the threats because the media had badgered him relentlessly for comment on the arms shipments until he made the controversial statement, which succeeded in raising tension between the two countries.
Another danger is the practice of "armchair journalism" -- using hearsay information as the basis for stories. An international football match between Ghanaian and Ivorien club sides in the early 1990s resulted in attacks on Ghanaian supporters and subsequent retaliation by Ghanaians on Ivoriens. A Ghanaian journalist admitted his role in fanning the flames by filing stories of events he did not witness.
Another pitfall of conflict reporting is sensationalising events that might or might not be related. "The Road To Kigali," read the headline in the July 20 1998 edition of The NEWS, a Nigerian weekly, following the sudden death of Chief Moshood Abiola, the undeclared winner of the cancelled elections of June 1993. Readers immediately recognised the pointed reference to the tribal violence that left more than 500,000 dead in Rwanda in 1994. Although not nearly on the scale of the Rwandan genocide, or even the clashes between Hindus and Muslims on the Asian subcontinent, Nigeria has known communal and religious violence itself.
Choices for Journalists
The simplest thing for a journalist to do when covering conflict is to choose the most popular side and stick to it. The middle-of-the road approach has a reputation for not being attractive to readers, colleagues, employers and the journalist's immediate family, and, as noted above, certainly not to government authorities or their opponents. Many of the participants reported that they faced ostracism and were discriminated against after reporting on particular events. In short, a journalist who holds to the middle-of-the-road runs the risk of a head-on collision sooner rather than later.
Nonetheless, most of those consulted were firmly in favour of practising impartiality, rather than advocating the views of one side or another. And all agreed that their primary responsibility was to provide their audiences with accurate and timely information that would enable them to make informed decisions. In violent armed conflicts this can go beyond the traditional role to include information that will help victims of conflict, for example, relocate from war-torn areas to unaffected parts of the country.
They also argued that by learning to identify the causal factors of conflict, journalists can play an import role in warning the communities about latent conflict and the potential triggers that can lead to conflict escalation. Journalists could also educate people, both about the potentially devastating consequences of conflict, as well as about different processes that are used in conflict resolution. This could be achieved by reporting the views of conflict resolution experts and by helping people see what has happened in other countries.
By reporting accurately the activities and opinions of people from different sides to the conflict, journalists can also help to break down misleading and potentially dangerous stereotypes. They can also look for examples of non-characteristic behaviour that will help people understand that in every conflict there are a range of different perspectives and beliefs. Journalists are often responsible for developing and enhancing stereotypes and they can make a significant contribution simply by being aware of the dangers of this practice.
The participants further stressed that journalists are often well placed to offer parties suggestions about potential solutions to conflict and that they help play a role in conflict resolution by reframing problems. Participants said the media could also provide a vital channel of communication between conflicting parties and give different sides an opportunity to explain their positions. However, they cautioned about the danger of allowing the press to be used for propaganda.
In sum, impartial engagement by journalists in conflict can be distilled into four categories suggested by participants during the series of consultations:
Providing information that will enable people to make better decisions about how to respond to conflict. This could include early warnings, sensitising the public on conflict issues, investigating, understanding and interpreting the causes of conflicts. A good example of this was provided by a timely editorial in the Ghanaian Mirror, a government newspaper. It offered useful insights and analysis of the impact that political developments within Nigeria could have on Ghana and the region.
Educating people about conflict resolution processes and options by encouraging debate on the issues, providing space for conflicting parties and even conflict resolution experts to present their views, or even offering alternative solutions for the resolution of the conflict. Useful analysis can help educate the government, public and conflicting parties.
Providing a channel through which different parties can be heard and can communicate with each other. This means the media must be adequately informed about the background and dynamics of the conflict to effectively identify the main players and their interests and be capable of accurately communicating different positions.
Protecting parties and the public against abuse: for instance, reporting events as they happen in an accurate, non-partisan manner, exposing human rights violations, showing the consequences of conflict. Respecting the confidentiality of sources is vital, especially during conflict.
The Media Under Fire
"Those who live by the pen will die by the sword," was a warning targeting journalists issued by the Armed Islamic Group, the most militant of the Algerian fundamentalist militias, and allegedly responsible for many of the atrocities in that country since 1992. Although this is an extreme case, there is no doubt that many African journalists are often in physical danger, especially when contesting government repression or covering violent conflict.
For most of the participants during the consultations, random wartime dangers were accepted as part and parcel of a dangerous job. They were more concerned about direct threats to their personal security. Many reported that they or their organisations had been actively targeted during times of conflict. This has taken the form of intimidation, detention and torture, assault and direct attempts on journalists’ lives. Media houses have been attacked and vital equipment looted or destroyed.
Those consulted argued that the best defence against attacks was to be seen to be providing balanced coverage and impartial journalism. However, where strong divisions exist between government and the private media, journalists often find themselves painted with a particular brush -- depending on who they work for -- and get caught in the political crossfire.
A common problem that journalists face in reporting conflict is that people are inclined to read or listen to those who either represent the government's side or the opposition's side. In other words, media consumers are not looking for alternative or more balanced views. "This is what is happening in Zambia, where some people buy The Times and others buy The Post. If your paper is owned by a politician then you are expected to toe the line. People are often paid to see the same vision as their political owners," remarked a participant during the Lusaka consultation.
Peacemaking also produces difficulties for the journalist concerned with informing the public and not wanting to undermine something as delicate as a negotiation or mediation process. Exposing the details of a tricky negotiation or misrepresenting aspects of the process could be disastrous. Media practitioners need to be aware of the consequences of their actions and deal with the dilemma of postponing or spiking a story even if their organisation loses out to others less scrupulous.
It has been argued that the media does not want some conflicts resolved, despite the negative impact it has, not only on journalists, but on society as a whole. The media thrives on conflict. "It’s like saying that the carpenter that makes coffins should stop and people would no longer die," was how one participant put it. Another side to this argument is that because conflict is an inherent facet of human existence, it will always be a primary subject for those reflecting society. The question is how best to communicate the drama of averting or minimising the human costs of conflict.
Gender and Conflict
Although they were in the minority in the consultation process -- a reflection of the small ratio of women to men in the African media -- many of the social conflict issues raised directly affected women: female genital mutilation, polygamy, property succession rights, as well as the more violent issues such as displacement, loss of loved ones and livelihoods, family disintegration, rape and other forms of abuse of women and girls.
The involvement of women in the media in Africa is a recent, post-independence development. With the advent of more radio and television broadcasting in the early 1970s, women began to invade the all-male preserve, although the proportion of women to men is still low at roughly 20 per cent.
African women in the media have come into conflict with a prevailing male-dominated media culture and discriminatory attitudes in the wider society. For example, independent-minded and knowledgeable female journalists are portrayed as threats to their husband's authority in the home, or as easy sexual prey to powerful men they come into contact with through their jobs. Social attitudes also dictate that the media ignore prominent women's views when journalists go looking for authoritative comment. There is a general perception that women's issues are used to titillate and sell media products, while serious issues on gender are overlooked. In Liberia, a casual analysis of the newspapers show that women's groups are often forced to buy space to ensure that their views are heard. Meanwhile, women journalists have to fight hard to start a women's column and ensure that it survives.
Newsroom prejudices and realities that steer women towards handling only "women's issues", rather than politics, economic and sports, include training, opportunities, aptitude, and exposure. There are women journalists who are working in areas for which they are unsuited because they are not encouraged or supported in moving into male-dominated editorial and management areas. Chris Anyanwu, the Nigerian journalist recently released from a 25-year prison term for allegedly plotting a coup, is one of several exceptions to the general rule, having demonstrated her entrepreneurial and professional credentials in founding her own newspaper.
Perceptions of disparities between male and female journalists are heightened in extreme conflict situations. Women are regarded as liabilities -- not tough enough to withstand the rigours of reporting from the field. "They can’t run", "they are frivolous, requiring their lipstick, nail and lip gloss in situations where these are non-existent," are some of the remarks often made by males about female journalists covering conflict situations. One female participant noted: "Sometimes the editors seem to think for us. They will say something like: ‘This is a rowdy situation, a woman cannot go there.’ They will decide to send a man. I think women should be given the opportunity to cover such incidents without fear or favour," she said.
One female Ghanaian radio reporter who did get the opportunity to go into a tribal war zone covered the ‘Guinea Fowl War’ in northern Ghana in 1994. She attributed her acceptance in the field not to her gender but to the distinct tribal marks on her cheeks. "Once they see me they know my background and I was not seen as a threat to them. They know me from my marks... People from Upper East and Upper West Regions wanted to go in, but were not allowed."
Another participant summed up the situation by saying: "We have to respect the choice of the journalist, whether male or female. If they are forced to cover issues they are not interested in, they would not be in the profession for long."
What was obvious in the Rwandan genocide and many other African conflicts is the absence of reportage on women’s issues. In Rwanda, the rape of Tutsi women was widespread but did not make headlines, probably because there were few women journalists present. It is possible that women journalists would have felt so strongly about the situation that it would have been more fully, accurately and sensitively reported. However, some journalists believe that a war correspondent’s gender is no guarantee of interest or competence in dealing with gender-specific issues. "It is a question of interest. If a woman journalist is not sensitised to these issues, she might ignore the tell-tale signs and fail to report them," said a participant.
Signs of progress for female journalists are mitigated by setbacks: they are becoming better organised within professional associations and other bodies to promote their agendas; while women have become increasingly prominent in broadcast media, few reach top management positions; female journalists are increasingly courted by governments seeking female appointees to redress gender imbalances, but those who opt for politics are a loss to the journalism profession.
The main conclusion that can be drawn is that there is an obvious need for African journalists, both male and female, to be sensitised about gender and conflict issues and that it is imperative for both men and women to break out of the gender ghettos they currently inhabit. The perspectives of both sexes would enrich and enlighten public debate on all these issues.
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