Elections in Nigeria are overtly sexist and reflect the patriarchy nature of our society with its deep cultural roots. The media has significantly and unfortunately reflected this patriarchal nature of our society in total disregard of its avowed commitment to diversity, objectivity, fairness, and balance. If democracy is the government of the people for the people and by the people, then all segment of the society must be adequately represented, in a proper democracy.
The objective of this paper is to examine the extent, media coverage of politics, particularly during an election is framed by the participants’ gender, and how it influences voter’s choices and election outcome.
This paper is hinged on the fact that an equal and fair participation of women and men in the political space is fundamental to democracy. The media, therefore, cannot be exempted from playing its role to leverage its influence to promote gender equality in our electoral process.
This is against the background that media have immense power in any democracy. Voters and politicians alike use the media as a common carrier. The voter to get information about candidates while the candidate promotes his agenda through the media.
The media perform a number of functions important to the democratic process. The media reports the news, serves as an intermediary between the government and the people, helps determine which issues should be discussed, and keeps people actively involved in society and politics.
Democracy and the media are like Siamese twins, inseparable. It is for this reason that the media is often called the bedrock of democracy or the “fourth estate of the realm” Democracy requires that citizens be informed because they must be able to make educated voting choices.
However, the kind of information the media give the electorate is important and must meet the journalistic tenets of Objectivity, balance, and fairness to serve democratic interests, anything short would be considered anti-democratic. Invariable the media can become an anti-democratic force when it fails to play its role in a democracy especially when it promotes narrow interests rather than the public interest, or fails to reflect society’s inherent diversity.
MEDIA BIAS
Media bias exist when the media fails to adhere to the core tenets of objectivity, balance and fairness.
Media bias exist when the media fails to respect national diversity and values
It exist when journalists publish information that encourages division and discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity or religion
It exist when journalists make sexist reference or pejorative comments on the basis of gender, physical or mental challenge
Media bias exist when there is no fair and equal access to the media by disadvantaged groups especially on the basis of gender, ethnicity or religion.
It exist when the media fails to uphold social responsibility and promote the universal principles of human rights, democracy, justice, equity, peace and understanding.
Against this background, this paper explores the subject of gender, media and voter’s choices with a focus on:
• How female politicians are portrayed in the media during elections
• The extent the representation of gender during elections influences voters’ decisions.
KEYWORDS:
Democracy:
1a: government by the people especially: rule of the majority
b: a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections
2: the common people especially when constituting the source of political authority
3: the absence of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions or privilege (Merriam Webster)
Voter:
Elector, one who has the legal right to vote
Media:
The main means of mass communication (broadcasting, publishing, and the Internet) regarded collectively. (Oxford dictionary)
Gender:
The state of being male or female in relation to the social and cultural roles that are considered appropriate for men and women. (Collins English dictionary). Our emphasis is on the female gender
STATISTICS ON WOMEN PARTICIPATION IN POLITICS
Since the return of democracy in 1999, Nigeria seems to have progressively worsened its already low position within global rankings on women’s participation in politics.
Statistics from the last general elections in 2015 shows that Nigeria dropped from the 131st to the 177th position out of 193 surveyed countries having just 5.6% of women in the lower house and 6.5% in the upper house.
What is more, most of the female candidates ran in small parties. In 2015 only one woman ran for the presidency out of 14 candidates, and four women ran for vice-presidency out of 14 candidates.
For the gubernatorial elections, there were only 11.4% women out of 760 candidates, 6% of whom ran for governor positions and 16.8% for deputy-governorships. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presented no female governorship candidate, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) party only one (in Taraba State)
Data sourced from the International Republican Institute, IRI, and INEC, shows that the 2015 elections furthered the negative trend already witnessed in 2011. There has been a consistent decline in the number of women elected or seeking elective positions since 1999
Evidently, a clear case of discrimination can be established on the basis of gender! The democratic space does not reflect diversity, regardless of the fact that women constitute over half of the Nigerian population. Men have dominated the democratic space to the virtual exclusion of women.
This dismal statistic negates the spirit behind Nigeria’s ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1985, which establishes international legal obligations to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women, including political participation.
Nigeria is also a signatory and has also ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Article 9:1) affirming the Rights of Women, which requires states parties to take specific action to support participative governance and the equal participation of women in the political life of their countries through affirmative action, enabling national legislation and other measures.
In Nigeria as shown in the table above, the number of women contesting for election or elected is well below the 30% Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action target and the 35% Nigerian National Gender Policy target.
MEDIA AND GENDER INEQUALITY
Elections are a period of intense media scrutiny. Voters will rely tremendously on the news to forge their opinion and vote. They must have enough information about candidates to make informed choices in the ballot booth. It is therefore essential that all candidates have equal access to the media and are portrayed in a fair and accurate way. Media coverage of elections is thus crucial to all stakeholders.
The media has an essential role as the primary source of information about politics, politicians, and elections.
Traditional media so far remain the main source of information during the election. However, they are facing increasing competition from the new media, particularly social media, which provide faster access to various types of content. Online media of all sorts have enabled politicians to express themselves, without there necessarily being journalists’ gatekeeping.
A free press, free from bias reporting and respectful of society’s diversity and equality and equity between women and men has the capacity to deliver citizens knowledge to make informed decisions and fully participate in the public debate.
Research has shown that when a man enters public life, media usually don’t pay attention to the fact that he is a man. When a woman runs for office, her gender is almost always a focus of debate. Research has also highlighted that women politicians are proportionally less visible. Numerous studies have highlighted the lack of equality and fairness in the media coverage of women and men.
In most cases, women participation in politics is downgraded and women access to media coverage is deficient in all indices which invariably limits their competitiveness in the electoral process.
As a consequence, unbalanced and unfair media coverage of women during elections can be expected to impact the voter’s understanding of the electoral stakes.
REASONS BEHIND LOW REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN THE MEDIA
The low representation of women in the media can be attributed to the following reasons:
The low presence of women candidates
Lack of gender balance in government structures.
Media ownership structure (mostly men)
Media managers (mostly men)
Heads of political parties are mostly men
Men are seen as primary definers of news by the media
MEDIA COMPLICITY
Media complicity in limiting women access to the media is realized in the following ways:
Agenda Setting (Reverse agenda setting)
Journalists cannot report on an endless number of event. The journalist is restricted by space, he has to prioritise the events to cover. Consequently, he must decide on which story to report and which to be left out. By holding the power to decide which stories to present to the public, the news media helps determine the most important issues; in other words, the journalists set the agenda. Agenda-Setting is crucial because it shapes which issues will be debated in public. Sometimes political scientists refer to agenda-setting as “Signaling” because the media signals which stories are the most important when they decide what to report.
Media Framing
The media have the capacity to “direct the public’s attention to certain issues presented as the most important ones at that moment”. At election times the media will decide on the guests, the topics, the format of the debate (including the setting of the room, the time, the angle of cameras and the captions that go beyond photographs.
Different factors will influence journalists when they cover news including their personal experience, their orientation (ideological, political or religious), their gender, their preferences, and their knowledge. Their specific frame of reference will inevitably influence the angle of a story.
Media framing downgrades women participation in politics, who too often are referred to as “women politicians”. It conveys the wrong message that their presence is not a natural trend and implies that their coverage should focus on what makes them new instead of focusing on their programme and ideas.
Gender Stereotyping by the Media
Gender stereotypes are generalised views and preconceived ideas developed by society according to which individuals are categorized into particular gender groups, typically defined as “women” and “men”, and are assigned characteristics and roles determined and limited by their sex. The media inadvertently promotes this concept.
Women politicians are more likely to receive media coverage that focuses more on their appearance, sex, fashion, private life and family life as compared to men.
These practices contradict the principle of equal treatment that should apply to all politicians.
Sexism
Misogyny is a common feature of the Nigerian society which is often carried over to media representation of women.
The male-dominated media often reflect women politicians in contemptuous or sexually challenged language. (Current challenges of Linda Ikeji as an example).
Furthermore the fact that women politicians are unmarried, divorced or single mothers is regularly a topic in the media. For the men, the question of marital status is hardly an issue. How they are able to manage career and family life rarely arises in the media. But for women, this challenge is constant.
MEDIA AND VOTERS’ CHOICES
Voters’ choices are considerably directed by the media.
Stereotyping, Sexism, reduces women appeal and electoral chances.
Framing and Agenda setting by the media works against gender equality and political participation by women.
Evidently, in the context of political candidatures, there is a correlation between media coverage and the popularity of a candidate. Gender-based stereotyping is likely to influence voters’ opinion on the different candidates and their voting decision.
The media downgrades women in the eyes of voters by the issues it focuses on and how it represents women politicians. This reinforces stereotype.
Sexist and stereotypical coverage of a woman candidate diminishes votes in her favour. Neutral, positive and negative descriptions of a woman candidate’s appearance has damaging effects on her candidacy. On the contrary, the male candidate pays no price for such media coverage.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Women and men continue to be subject to significantly different portrayal in the media. This has affected their participation and electoral fortunes.
Globally there is a growing awareness of the issue, and countries are coming up with strategies and legislation to address the problem and mainstream gender into all facet of their society, the same however cannot be said of Nigeria.
The media being a significant part of the democratic process, it is my humble submission that gender should become an integral part of media policies and practices.
Steps must be taken in the following direction:
Regulatory and Self-Regulatory mechanisms
Should be implemented to deal with women in the media and sexism
At the regulatory level gender equality should be defined in national legislation and this should be made to cover the media and made an explicit part thereof, ensuring that a clear distinction exists between that principle and the protection of diversity. At the self-regulatory level media practitioners should become more conscious and aware of existing situation and work towards deliberate mainstreaming of gender equality in election coverage.
The Electoral Act 2010
“The media shall not be employed to the advantage of any political party or candidate at election … and that Media time shall be allocated equally among the political parties or candidates, at similar hours of the day” (Nigerian Electoral Act 2010, as Amended part V, para. 100/2) (part V, para. 100/3).
Although the provision is designed to deal with diversity, it is not extensive enough and has not specifically provided for gender equality. This deficiency should be provided for in future amendments.
Self-Regulation and Journalistic Code of Ethics
The Nigerian Union of Journalist in their code of ethics provides copiously for gender equality and non-discrimination on the basis of gender. The relevant provision is reproduced below:
RESPECT FOR NATIONAL AND DIVERSITY VALUES
i. Every journalist shall promote the unity of the country, the pride of her peoples and the strength of her social and cultural diversities
ii. A journalist shall not publish information that encourages disintegration or division at the expense of the common good of the people
iii. A journalist shall not publish information that encourages discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, belief, gender and health
iv. A journalist shall not make pejorative reference to an individual’s ethnicity, belief, gender and physical or mental challenge
Any journalist that disseminates discriminatory information, denies fair access to diverse and disadvantaged groups in the society and whose reports are established to contribute to the escalation of violent conflicts shall have violated the letters and principles of this code and may be liable to sanction
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Every journalist shall promote the universal principles of human rights, democracy, justice, equity, peace and international understanding.
Accordingly:
i. Every journalist shall give equitable access to diverse groups in the society especially the socially disadvantaged
ii. Every journalist shall respect the rights of women and mainstream gender into their news reports
iii. Every journalist shall give equitable access to parties and candidates in elections; and mainstream gender into their political reports
iv. Every journalist shall be conflict sensitive; It is the duty of the journalist to work for the reduction of conflict and promotion of the common value of peace, as long as doing so does not compromise the duty to inform
Any journalist that denies fair access to diverse and disadvantaged groups in the society and whose reports are established to contribute to the escalation of violent conflicts shall have violated the letters and principles of this code and may be liable to sanction
SELF-REGULATION AND JOURNALISTIC CODE OF ETHICS
The Media Code of Election Coverage (Revised edition 2018), was unveiled in June, 2018 as part of the activities of the World Congress of the International Press Institute.
About 80 media outfits have reportedly endorsed the Code, including professional groups and associations, the broadcast media, newspapers, online news mediums and support groups.
Including the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria, Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Nigerian Guild of Editors, Radio Television And Theatre Arts Workers Union and the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, as well as the Nigerian Institute of Journalism and the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria and a host of other
Essentially, the Code provides guidelines for the ethical conduct of journalists and their respective organisations in the coverage of elections.
MEDIA CODE OF ELECTION COVERAGE (REVISED EDITION 2018),
The Media Code of Election Coverage (Revised edition 2018), was unveiled in June, 2018 as part of the activities of the World Congress of the International Press Institute.
About 80 media outfits have reportedly endorsed the Code, including professional groups and associations, the broadcast media, newspapers, online news mediums and support groups.
Including the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria, Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Nigerian Guild of Editors, Radio Television And Theatre Arts Workers Union and the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, as well as the Nigerian Institute of Journalism and the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria and a host of other
Essentially, the Code provides guidelines for the ethical conduct of journalists and their respective organisations in the coverage of elections.
SECTION: 1.2. UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS
The Responsibility of Media Organisations 1.2.1.
A media organisation shall, as a matter of deliberate editorial policy, target under-represented groups, especially women, youths, persons living with disabilities and rural dwellers in the coverage of electoral processes;
1.2.2. A media organisation shall consciously reflect the views and perspectives of women, youths, persons living with disabilities and rural dwellers in electoral reports.
CRITISM
This provision is not extensive, it is not detailed nor specific or measurable
The same goes for the relevant provisions in the Electoral Act and the revised Code of Ethics for Nigerian Journalists
Gender mainstreaming must be specific, unequivocal and measurable for it to be effective.
GENDER BEST PRACTICES; THE BBC
A review of most media codes on elections and gender mainstreaming are generalised and non-specific.
However, some media organisations have specific and measurable steps towards better portrayal of women.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is one of such.
Its 2016-2020 diversity and inclusion strategy states inter-alia to build:
“a workforce at least as diverse, if not more so, than any other in the industry”, meet “portrayal targets that cover a much wider range of diversity than any other broadcaster, with a bigger impact for audiences across a wider range of programmes” and enhance their diversity culture by hardwiring “diversity in what we do, making it something that everyone at the BBC understands and all those who make programmes for us supports”.
An important target for portrayal is to achieve “50% women on screen, on-air and in lead roles across all genres from Drama to News by 2020”.
To increase the presence of women experts on screen.
MORE RECOMENDATIONS
Furthermore there should exist concrete implementation policies to achieve gender equality in the media coverage of electoral campaigns aimed at enhancing women’s visibility in campaigns and their access to the media.
Political parties should be encouraged to be mindful in their internal policies of a gender equality perspective and to enhance a balanced representation for women and men in electoral campaigns.
The composition of editorial teams in media organisations should be more gender sensitive. Deliberate policies should be put in place to support more leading roles for women in media organizations.
The production and supply of media content that deals with politics and elections should be reviewed and monitored with a view to achieving gender balance during election
Media broadcast should be inclusive, reflects diversity, and gender inclusiveness. This can be achieved through framing, selection of guest and expert opinion among others.
Media practitioners should be more conscious and deliberate and avoiding using gender stereotypes, sexist or biased language;
Deliberate and conscious effort be made towards making gender mainstreaming a matter for editorial policy and adopting gender-sensitive policies in newsrooms.
Promoting training of both female and male journalists on gender equality aimed at including gender dimension to political coverage;
The media should monitoring gender commitments made by political parties and reporting on their progress;
The Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation should come up with an enforceable gender policy
Media education and media literacy should be integrated into media and journalism schools’ curricula, providing for a steady process of awareness-raising in respect of gender equality, gender portrayal, and sexist discrimination.
CONCLUSION
There is no doubt that gender mainstreaming is desirable. The media evidently has an indispensable role to play in achieving this laudable goal and ensuring gender inclusiveness in the political process. As herculean as this task may be, the goals of gender mainstreaming can be achieved with deliberate and coordinated approached. The modest recommendations highlighted above would go a long way in addressing the problem of gender mainstreaming in Nigerian politics.
Paper delivered by Dr. Austin Maho at a one day seminar on Media and Gender Sensitive Reporting on Elections. Rockview Royal Hotel, Abuja, December 20th 2016.
