Thematic media highlight: biased reportage against women in politics

Name of article:                     Soldiers do cry: Sisulu weeps after Cabinet ambush
                                                                      Zuma demotes “loose cannon” Sisulu
                                                                      Cele: I’ll just shut up and go home
                                                                      Cele, out but not down.

Name of journalists:        Matuma Letsoalo
                                                                    Sapa
                                                                  Staff Reporter & Sapa
                                                                  Carly Ritz

Name of newspapers: Times Live
                                                                    Mail and Guardian
                                                                    Mail and Guardian
                                                                    The New Age

Date:                                                   06 June 2012

Country:                                         South Africa

Theme:                                           Media, politics

Skills:                                                 Portrayal, sources, language and perspective

Genre:                                               News, news analyisis

GEM Classification:        Blatant stereotype

Description
Liberal Feminist Criticism asserts that media unequally portrays women compared to their male counterparts. The theorists argue that the media is one of the main instruments responsible for conveying values about women and femininity. These values are patriarchal, stereotypical and hegemonic. It is also recognised that for a variety of reasons, men and women are treated differently in cyberspace in as much as they are treated differently in mainstream media. This media highlight analyses four articles published by South African print and online media that unequally portrayed Lindiwe Sisulu compared to Bheki Cele (Former national police commissioner) – a day after President Jacob Zuma’s cabinet reshuffle and appointment of other government officials. On 12 June 2012, President Zuma reshuffled his cabinet and moved Sisulu from Defence Ministry to Public Service and Administration whilst Cele was fired after being on eight months suspension. The former police boss was suspended following public protector; advocate Thuli Madonsela’s findings that Cele acted unlawfully in the acquisition of police lease space in a deal that was worth R1.7 billion.

Headlines

Times Live: Zuma demotes ‘loose cannon’, Sisulu
The headline is irrelevant to the article as it does not mirror the content of the story. Much as the moving of Sisulu to a new ministry is newsworthy, the article’s headline is out of order considering that the content of the story is not solely reporting on Sisulu but all other cabinet members who have been redeployed. Further, the headline also suggests that Sisulu was out of control as she would at most say more often than not her views on certain issues and was not apologetic. By describing her as such it suggests that women in politics should hold back and not stand their ground on certain issues lest they be seen as out of control. This headline is also derogatory as it describes Sisulu as unpredictable person – liable to cause damage if not kept in check by others, a description that strips off her dignity.

Mail and Guardian online: Soldiers do cry: Sisulu weeps after cabinet ambush
The headline insinuates that soldiers do not cry and Susilu’s reaction is typical of a feminine character. In addition, the headline is quite sensational as opposed to reporting real issues surrounding cabinet reshuffle. The headline uses words such as cry, weep and ambush to describe Sisulu. Comparing this headline to these: Cele out but not down and I’ll just shut up and go home – one could be deduced that whilst Sisulu is reported broken-down and helpless, Cele still has all his machismo intact even after losing a job and that losing a job does not affect him in anyway. Conclusively, men soldiers do not cry and Sisulu cried because she is a woman.

Sources
Times Live: The article is a single sourced and the reporter never made an effort to interview Sisulu despite featuring her in the headline. In addition, the alleged source is anonymous. These ultimately make this article journalistically wrong and gender blind. According to Gender Links’ 2010 Gender and Media Progress Study, use of anonymous and single sources in media practice is mostly a “cover-up for lazy journalism.” In this case for instance, the reporter could have interviewed Sisulu herself or a political commentator.

Mail and Guardian online – I’ll just shut up and go home: Contrary to the above article, this piece gives Cele a chance to give his side of the story. However, the article falls in “a lazy journalism” trap as well for using a single source. In order to give an article like this some depth and make it more informative and journalistically right, the reporter could have given brief background that led to Cele’s firing and the alleged corruption charges he is contemplating of challenging in court.

Mail and Guardian online – Soldiers do cry: Sisulu weeps after cabinet ambush: the article uses anonymous sources except Democratic Alliance Party and Sisulu’s spokespersons. Despite a huge part of the story being reported from anonymous sources’ point-of-views, the reporter would be commended for making an effort to hear Sisulu’s side of the story and interviewing multiple sources. However, anonymous sources in the articles affect the article’s credibility.

The New Age: The piece is written from analytical point of view and it hardly includes a source. The article is written from a reporter’s point of view and portrays Cele in a positive light. This ultimately makes this article bias. Considering how issues have unfolded for Cele from the time he got suspended to his firing, one wouldn’t expect a journalist to write such a story. For instance, the article’s sub-headline reads: “he may have left office under a cloud, but at least he’s still got the cars and the ladies”. In other words, the reporter insinuates that even when a man fails to deliver in public office, it doesn’t really matter if he is got wealth and women. In other words, success for men is amassing wealth and having more women and not necessarily delivering in a public office. This article demonstrates male chauvinistic attitudes popular in patriarchal societies. In this piece, the article is trivializing Cele’s alleged wrong deeds simply because he is man.

Language
In media, portrayal also concerns messages that are conveyed through the choice of words. The two stories reporting on Sisulu are in essence the same in the way they use language to create her character. Overall, the language is meant to downgrade Sisulu and most of which is derogatory. In article titled Soldiers do cry: Sisulu weeps after cabinet ambush, the reporter uses dramatic language, figurative and derogatory verbs and adjective all of which are meant to downgrade her. For instance, in the first paragraph alone, reporter writes that Sisulu “[got] too big for her boots” and that she “was caught completely off guard” after being told about the reshuffle. In the fourth paragraph, the reporter uses verbs such cried, shocked and a phrase “can’t imagine” to describe Sisulu’s reaction after hearing the news that she had been moved to another ministry.

Much as Sisulu might have reacted after being told about the reshuffle, the use of language in this quote from this anonymous source blows things out of proportion. Further, the source being quoted here is an alleged senior ANC and government official and not a close person to her. The alleged Sisulu’s reactions as portrayed in the quotation could only be told by a close person to Sisulu and not a party or government official. Sisulu is a seasoned politician and she couldn’t have gone in public spaces “crying” and “weeping” because of a cabinet reshuffle.

Contrary to Sisulu’s articles, Cele’s stories use positive language. Ironically, Cele is a character who was suspended as a national police commissioner for abusing office. In addition, the inquiry found him guilty a development that prompted Zuma to fire him. Perhaps he is the one who deserved negative language and phrases to describe his mal-practices and conduct whilst in public office. Contrary to this point of view, the reporters trivialized all Cele’s wrong deeds and gave him an innocent character besides showering him with positive and triumphant descriptions such as man of the match; untouchable; smirk’, [Cele] has mostly kept his cool and I’ll just shut up and go home.

Visual Images
The meaning of media texts can also be drawn from images that accompany a story. Images are a powerful tool for both conveying and challenging identities but also perpetuating stereotypes. Whilst Sisulu’s picture shows her looking down, distressed, dejected and miserable, Cele is portrayed in a totally different way – happy, enjoying and in control of the situation. The use of these images suggest that women easily break down when they are faced with a tough situation whilst men continue to be in control of their lives even when they have lost a prestigious job.

Story Angle/Perspective
The concept of news framing is highly active here considering persistent patterns of selection, emphasis and exclusion that furnish the interpretation of how the two are reacting to their situations. A comparative analysis of these articles portrays women as weak characters compared to their male counterparts.

The writers deliberately chose dubious angles to portray Sisulu in dejected mood compared to Cele. In the two articles reporting about Sisulu, reporters framed the news is such a way that some things are given prominence over others. For example, Sisulu’s new post is not explored yet it is being described as a demotion. Sisulus negative portrayal is also being emphasized, overshadowing all good contributions she has done whilst in defence ministry. From these articles, one can deduce that Sisulu is a performer and that her movement is not based on her performance but other factors. Perhaps the writers could have focused in telling readers the contributions Sisulu made whilst serving as a Minister of Defence. This could have informed the reader what should be expected of her in the new ministry. One of the articles by the Mail and Guardian (Soldiers do cry: Sisulu weeps after cabinet ambush) tried exploring this angle. However, this did form the thrust of the story.

Contrary to Sisulu’s perspectives, Cele’ image and character are not compromised at all. The articles presented him as a ‘gentleman’ and an innocent character who is strong enough to handle situations around him. Further, articles reporting about Sisulu’s suggest that it is uncalled for – for women to stand their ground on issues that they are concerned with, let alone politics. One of the stories (Zuma demotes ‘loose cannon’ Sisulu) provides a different case that tries to factor a rightful way in which women are expected to behave particularly if they want leadership positions. The article reports that Sisulu’s replacement, Nosiviwe Mapisa Nqakula would accept anything that she is given and hence she will serve longer on this position.

Ironically, the articles portray Sisulu in a negative light yet she is still holding a public position whilst Cele’s has been fired. In other words, reporters failed to acknowledge and report positive things about Sisulu simply because she is a woman. And the opposite is true for Cele, who according the articles under spotlight was given positive publicity yet he was found guilty of abusing office a development that prompted President Zuma to fire him.

Placement or position
The New Age: Despite not reporting the issues surrounding Cele firing fairly, the paper accorded the article almost a full page. The pictures accompanying the piece and the bold headline made the piece stand out in the paper.

Conclusion
The articles under spotlight in this analysis demonstrate how the media downplays numerous efforts and achievements women holding public offices make. It is discouraging to note that the media mostly tends to trivialize men’s failures and scandals whilst it blows out of proportion women’s issue through negative publicity. Even when men are in the wrong, the media portrays them as victors whilst women are mostly portrayed as victims and incapable. A week after portraying Sisulu as a low self-esteemed politician, the media changed their reportage and depicted her as minister who will put to order the Public Service and Administration Ministry. Are media practitioners aware that they have the power to set public agenda? What kind of the society then is the media trying to create if they continue downplaying women this way?

Training exercise
– Select two articles or adverts and write a comparative analysis on how women and men are portrayed?
– Assuming you were a South African journalist assigned to cover this cabinet reshuffle, what would be your angle of the story from a gender perspective and why?
– Discuss how women and men are portrayed in news websites compared to print and broadcast media.

Other training resources
– Gender and Images in Southern Africa : Picture our lives
– Making Every Voice Count: Reporting Southern Africa – Module three
– Gender and Media Progress Study
– Women in News: Strengthening the Voice and Visibility of Women in the African Media’s Coverage of Elections, Politics and Governance
– 30 Years of Democracy: Riding the Wave? Women’s Political Participation in Latin America

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