Caribbean Region Workshop on Gender and Media Advocacy

The World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) in partnership with Women’s Media Watch (WMW) held a 3-day training workshop on gender and media advocacy. The workshop took place from 10 to 12 April, 2008 in Kingston, Jamaica, bringing together representatives from civil society organisations committed to issues pertaining to the gender dimensions of media.

The workshop is a follow-up to the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) 2005, the most extensive global research into gender in the media ever undertaken that mapped the representation of women and men in the news media in 76 countries.

The results of GMMP 2005 show that women are dramatically under-represented in the news. Only 21% of news subjects are female and women’s voices are rarely heard in the topics that dominate the news agenda. In stories on government and politics, women make up only 14% of news subjects and in economics and business news only 20%. When women do make the news it is primarily as ‘stars’ or victims. Unfair and imbalanced representation of women and men in the media perpetuates stereotypes about gender that form the basis of practices of exclusion and marginalization in everyday life situations.

In the Caribbean media, sexism, gender biases and insensitive coverage of all forms of violence are pervasive despite lobbying efforts and an increasing awareness of the role that the media plays as a socializing agent, influencing attitudes and behaviour. Tabloid newspapers are popular with young persons especially as they carry information about the music and dance culture of the region but they are also sensationalist and replete with gender stereotypes,

With the advent of new forms of ICT throughout the region, access to cell phones, internet, cable TV etc has grown, but this has also brought increased sexism and violence. It is crucially important that the local media industry does not seek to replicate the negatives in foreign media. Thus advocacy must be based on a thorough understanding of how the media operates, on research data, and a solid understanding of gender issues in the media.

At the end of the workshop, the participants from ten Caribbean countries adopted a Caribbean Gender and Media Advocacy Plan of Action. The Plan of Action contains four projects to be undertaken at regional level and an additional two at national levels. The projects include a regional GMMP Training of Trainers, research into media codes of practice, and the compilation of a regional directory of female experts and spokespersons.