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Articles analysed: “Winnie criticism of ANC spot onÀ, Sowetan, 3 May 2011 and “Winnie’s plea for female ANC mayors ignoredÀ, The Star, 3 May 2011
Country: South Africa
Theme: Politics
Skills: Perspective
Genre: News
GEM classification: Gender aware
Description
Where were women’s voices during South Africa’s local government elections? Six months before the local elections, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela made a plea to the ANC to include more women in leadership positions. In the first weekend of May, Madikezela-Mandela made another bold critique of the ANC À“ that it has lost touch with the masses. This month, two Gauteng-based newspapers À“ The Star and The Sowetan À“ published pieces on Madikizela-Mandela’s statements. This is a comparative case study of gender-aware reporting during elections. Both articles are in support of more women in politics and critique the ANC for endorsing all male mayorships for big metropolitans and women in the smaller ones. This gives a perception that women are not trusted to handle leadership within the ANC. The articles feature Winnie Madikizela-Mandela as a political figure who is advocating for women’s rights both within the ANC and in South Africa.
Headlines
The two articles are introduced in an ethical and appropriate way, they are relevant to the story and do not portray any stereotypes.
Sources
There is a gender balance of sources in this article. Both men and women have been given a platform to state their views, neither sex dominates the other. Madikizela-Mandela, who is the main subject in the story, was interviewed. Her views are heard and given prominence. She does not speak as a minor but as an authority. The article portrays her as a strong, assertive woman who speaks out about issues that subordinates women.
Language
The reporter uses neutral language, which is accommodating and reflective of both sexes.
Visual image
In “Winnie criticism of ANC spot onÀ, the image has both females and males in it and it illustrates the content of the story fairly. Every person in the image is given equal prominence they are all seen as authority figures. This challenges stereotypes, as usually in political stories males are seen and heard more than women. The image shows that women are slowly getting into politics even though men still dominate. The only issue with the image is that there is only one woman among five men, which shows the huge gap between the two sexes in the realm of politics.
“Winnie’s plea for female ANC mayors ignoredÀ did not have a picture of Madikizela-Mandela or other women interviewed, even though their voices are still heard in the story. The reporter had only used pictures of ANC top mayors. This is interesting because at the same time as critiquing the lack of a strong female presence in politics, the images do not take account of female presence in politics.
Story angle and perspective
Both male and female viewpoints are heard in the story, but Winnie’s viewpoints predominate. This shows a good sign of women empowerment, women who have no fear to state their views and be heard. It shows a woman who wants to make a difference and create change for other women by boldly criticizing the leading party. The story challenges the stereotypes as it shows women who are active in the public sphere especially in politics.
However, as The Star article demonstrates, Madikizela-Mandela’s plea was ignored. Men dominated the number of candidates and they represented big metropolitans while women took smaller ones. This shows that there is still a gender inequality in representation of men and women in politics. This situation shows there is still a long to go till that equality is accomplished. Women are still undermined.
Placement and positioning
The stories have been placed among other important stories about elections. One has taken half of the entire page and this shows its importance. The other story is among the first articles in the newspaper and this also shows it has been given prominence. There are no jokes or cartoons around the stories that trivialize their seriousness.
The article maybe used to:
– Illustrate the importance of women in politics.
– Demonstrate the role of the media in highlighting women’s issues in politics.
– Show an example of stories that challenge the stereotypes.
Training questions
– What other sources could have been used to improve the stories?
– How do these articles portray women?
– What are the elements that make these articles gender aware?
Other training recourses
VRC case study: Ambitious plans for women’s participation
Publication: Women Power in Politics written by Mbuyu Nalumango and Monde Sifuniso
Research: Gender in the 2011 South African Local Government Elections by Gender Links
Download : 13064_winnie_criticism_of_anc_spot_on_sowetan_03052011_.jpg
Download : 13066_winnies_plea_for_female_mayors_ignored_the_star_03052011.jpg
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