The gender, media freedom and access to information nexus

The Windhoek Declaration (1991) calls for the promotion of independent, pluralistic and free press. Twenty years down the line, it is important to review how successful this has been especially in relation to gender, media and access to information. The following questions need to be asked and analysed within a gender framework. How free is the media? Is information accessible to all? For until men and women have equal involvement and participation in the media and equal access to information, media freedom and access to information by all will not be fully achieved. This article will critically examine the concepts of gender, media freedom and access to information and tease out the interplay between the three. This article is based on the hypothesis that media freedom and access to information by all will only be fully realised when grounded within a gender framework.

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