In November 2001, representatives of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) and Media Women's Associations from the Southern African Development Corporation (SADC) region, met in Windhoek at a MISA Gender Policy workshop that was facilitated by Gender Links. The meeting noted that gender equality was implicit in the notions of a “pluralistic press", "reflecting the widest possible range of opinion within the community", "the fulfillment of human aspirations", "freedom of the press" and "freedom of association" as espoused in the 1991 Windhoek Declaration on Promoting an Independent and Pluralistic African press. However, the failure to state this explicitly led to inadequate attention being paid to the gross gender disparities in the media. Coupled with this a number of gaps such as the lack of research on gender in the media content were identified at this meeting.

To address some of these gaps, the participants directed that one of the action plans should be the conducting of a baseline research on the state of gender and the media. The idea was to establish comprehensive baseline data on gender reportage in the media at national and regional level in mainstream and community media. MISA and Gender Links then established a strategic partnership in order to conduct the baseline study that brought together twenty institutional partners from civil society, media training institutions, media watchdogs and media women's associations in twelve countries. The objectives of the study were to provide baseline data for monitoring progress towards achieving gender balance in media coverage, build capacity in the region for monitoring media content from a gender perspective, and create a key advocacy tool in the campaign to ensure that the voices of women and men, in all their diversity, are equally represented and fairly portrayed in the media in the region.

The Gender and Media Baseline Study (GMBS) drew substantially from both the 1995 and 2000 Global Media Monitoring Projects but differs from them in that it spanned a whole month, rather than just one-day. The study included qualitative as well as quantiative findings to highlight that just because a story is about a woman does not necessarily mean it is gender sensitive.

• The study, which took place in September 2002, focused solely on news and included a total of 25,110 news items and covered 114 out of 317 print and electronic, private, public and community media in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
• Twelve country reports and brochures that give additional detail about women and men in the editorial content of individual countries complement the regional study. The first such study in Southern Africa, the GMBS is also the most comprehensive regional study on gender and the media ever to be undertaken.

• The study found that women constitute only 17% of news sources in Southern Africa compared to a global average of 18%. Economic and political coverage took up about a quarter of news time and space; 20% was spent on sports coverage with the remaining 2% accounting for gender equality coverage. The study found that most media were more likely toportray women as sex objects rather than as equals. Among the quantitative findings are that women are much more likely to carry the personal labels of mother, wife, daughter than men are to be referred to as father, husband, son.
• The quantitative research also highlights instances of blatant sexist reporting, such as the crass sexual exploits that feature on the back page of the Windhoek Observer, or the reed dance in Swaziland reported under the headline: " The Great Boob Show". The report also highlights the perhaps more worrying ‘gender blindness’ of most mainstream stories. The qualitative research shows that the only category in which women's voices predominate is gender equality. Women's voices are not even heard in proportion to their numbers in occupational categories. For instance, although women constitute 18% of members of parliament in the region, only 8% of female politicians were quoted.
• The study also highlights interesting insights on gender imbalances in the newsrooms of the region. The highest proportion of media women practitioners of 45% is the TV Presenter category and the lowest in the print category of 22%. Women are more likely to be found in the soft beats like social issues and human rights. Male reporters are in the majority in all beats, including those addressing issues of gender equality.
• The report was first launched on 4th March, 2003 during a side event at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women and during a panel discussion on Gender and ICT organised by the International Women's Tribune Centre in New York. The Commonwealth Secretariat also showcased the report during a cocktail book launch in New York. Regionally, the report was launched on the eve of International Women's Day 2003 at a seminar in Johannesburg, South Africa that brought together high-level regional media officials. The country reports were officially launched in the various countries on 3rd May  as part of the World Press Freedom Day activities, to further challenge the media that they could not celebrate fully when half the voices were missing.

• The MISA Gender Policy states that giving voice to all segments of society is intrinsic to participation, citizenship and in turn to democracy and development. The GMBS is therefore not seen as an end but rather as the beginning of a concerted advocacy campaign to ensure that the voices of women and men are equally heard, on all subjects, in the news.
• For additional information see www.misa.org and
• www.genderlinks.org.za.
• Written by Jennifer Mufune, Executive of the Gender & Chapter Support of the Media Institute of Southern Africa.

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