The Glass Ceiling and beyond

1

• The Glass Ceiling and beyond
• Realities, challenges and strategies
• for South African media
• Report by
• Diversity Sub-committee
• Sanef AGM
• East London
• July 2006

2
Survey aims

• What realities do senior women journalists face
  in SA newsrooms?
• What are the identified obstacles?
• Which strategies can redress the situation?
• What were the answers?

3
Presentation outline

• Background
• Methodology
• Findings
• Conclusions
• Issues
• Way forward

4
Background

• Follow-up of en-gendered AGM2003, Durban
• Aim to establish realities women journalists
  experience in SA newsrooms
• However no funding
• After delays cost concerns in getting the
  research done, the 2005/6 Diversity Sub-committee
  decided to fast track study focus on
• identify realities holding back the advancement
  of women in newsrooms
• recommend strategies that would facilitate an
  enabling environment

5
Methodology

• Socio-scientific, qualitative research
  methodology
• Questionnaire compiled by Diversity Sub-com
• Sanef office distributed e-questionnaire,
  collated findings
• Population 149 Sanef members
• Period March to mid May 2006.
• 40 complete responses ( representative sample
  27 of population)
• Another 10 commented/replied in some way
• Thanks to all those who took the time to take
  part in the survey

6
Findings Q1-3

• Questionnaire completed by
• 6 editors
• 29 senior news journalists (various senior
  executive levels)
• 5 educators/trainers
• Ratios
• 40 respondents
• 25 female 14 male 1 good question 62,5
  female 35 male 2.5 not sure
• Population
• 35 female 65 male
• Respondents gender reflects opposite, may
  indicate the priority with which the issue and
  the questionnaire was treated by male Sanef
  members
• (by implication, male senior news executives)
• Experience of 40 respondents
• 45 gt 20 years experience
• 45 10 - 20 years experience
• 10 lt 10 years experience.

7
Findings Q4

• Why do you think are there so few women editors
  at a senior level across all media in SA?
• Reasons offered in broad concepts (not in order
  of importance)
• patriarchy
• sexism
• prejudice
• marginalisation
• historical fact
• structural inequalities
• family commitments
• cultural factors
• social injustices
• lack of support
• discriminatory practices
• lack of career planning for women journalists by
  media managers
• Question 5 How many women editors are there in
  your newsroom in relation to men (e.g. 1 out of
  5) answers too varied to be used

8
Findings Q6

• What are the obstacles in the way of women
  becoming senior editors?
• from none (a male respondent)
• to the already established broad concepts (Q4)
• a male hegemonic society
• stereotypical perceptions
• family responsibilities (culture)
• women might be prone to emotional instability
• women not competent

9
Findings Q7, 8 9

• What is the gender policy in your current
  newsroom?
• Are there affirmative action policies in
  newsrooms concerning gender?
• The answers to both showed that many senior
  media people were ignorant of policies in their
  own organisations/news rooms
• If so, how are they monitored for progress
  against targets?
• 27,5 did not answer
• 13,5 not applicable did not know was
  not sure
• 50 of answers ranged from that it is done
• at a regional level
• constantly
• at the editors level, but not down the line

10
Findings Q10 Q11

• What attitudes towards women in management are
  prevalent in newsrooms positive and negative?
• In general seems as if improvement regarding
  acceptance of woman managers, despite prejudices.
  A change of mindset/ difficulty in applying.
• What gender sensitivity regarding the news
  exists among those women
• who are in senior positions in the industry?
• Women journalists are gender sensitive dealing
  with day to day news events
• A critical mass of women in senior positions will
  lead to a change
• (Although, various studies showed women often
  perpetuate existing male constructs of the
  newsroom environment also indicated by some of
  the respondents.)

11
Findings Q12

• What gender sensitivity regarding the news
  exists among
• senior men in the newsrooms?
• But I do think senior men think they are gender
  sensitive when in fact they are not. And the fact
  that they do not know that they do not know, is
  even worse than to argue/debate with those who
  are outright discriminating
• Men still need to work on their gender
  awareness/sensitivity,
• As the majority answered in the negative.
• 1 did not know
• 6 did not answer
• 1 had absolutely no idea
• 3 not applicable one adding

12
Findings Q13

• And, how does this relate to their positions on
  women staffers
• and advancement? Examples?
• From the number of non-responses (30), either
• questionnaire fatigue started to set in
• or it is non-importance in terms of the topic
• Mens relation to women staffers and their
  advancement is not
• an important issue among senior news
  journalists.
• This is a serious matter impacts n how women
  journalists
• are treated, and how news content is assessed
  and represented.
• Responses
• 12 did not answer
• 1 was not sure
• 1 had absolutely no idea
• 4 not applicable
• 1 did not understand the question

13
Findings Q14

• If you were a senior woman editor and have left,
  why did you leave?
• Reasons
• retrenchment
• harassment
• pressure
• a sense of isolation
• no support base
• undermining
• not being taken seriously and
• no space for flexibility
• 13 did not answer
• 16 indicated not applicable
• 14 male respondents - possibly why 13 refrained
  from answering

14
Findings Q15

• What would bring you back to a senior position?
• Answers - reasons why women would return to
  senior positions
• a change in newsroom environment
• applied AA policies
• gender awareness
• even playing fields
• a supportive environment and
• flexi-hours/-work
• 13 did not answer (see previous question)
• 14 indicated not applicable, one adding but a
  vicarious answer is 50 pct of what is out
  there!!!

15
Findings Q16

• What strategies do you recommend for the
  advancement of women in newsrooms?
• Answers - some of the necessary strategies for
  the advancement and
• retention of women in newsrooms
• general conscientising
• building allies (also among women)
• business plans supporting gender policies
• a willingness by companies to foster changes
• training and development programmes
• the outlining of career paths
• better strategies than just fining non-deliverers
  in terms of equity laws
• facilities (e.g. a crèche)
• flexible working hours/work
• a supportive and enabling environment
• 7 did not answer

16
Conclusion

• As was expected a confirmation of what was
  recorded in other such surveys
• In a male dominated society, women still are on
  the receiving end of discrimination
• After 12 years of a new South Africa, in South
  Africas newsrooms its still a question of same
  old
• The fact that such an important study had to be
  done without any funding, is a valid point of
  criticism against Sanef
• One respondent Sanef really has to pull finger
  instead of providing lip service

17
Conclusion

• One can safely extrapolate from the data that
• discriminatory practices
• structural inequalities
• cultural factors
• prejudices
• patriarchy and
• sexism
• are still alive and well in South African
  newsrooms
• These are clearly prohibiting South Africas
  women journalists from realising their potential

18
Issues

• Sexism lesser citizens Theres a sense that
  many men do often still feel they are superior to
  women. No amount of workshops is going to change
  this ingrained sense of entitlement.
• Racism Preferences and privileges enjoyed by
  white men still prevail, but also the white
  old boys club seems to be replaced by a black
  old boys club.
• Prejudice and discrimination Prejudice is still
  a factor, especially the higher you go overt
  and covert
• Women are patronised and their opinions do not
  appear to be taken as seriously as those of men.
  This can be subtle, like jokes made at their
  expense when they give their opinions, or
  teasing. It seems friendly and even affectionate,
  but it is actually demeaning

19
Issues

• Newsroom culture distinct maleness and a
  culture of maledom
• Knowledge of equity laws recommended that
  workshops on these issues are conducted within
  newsrooms.
• Employment conditions intrinsic nature of the
  job flexi hours/
• flexi work.
• Institutionalised discrimination Interesting
  that these are the levels where skills are not
  the only requirement, but also the ability to fit
  in and perpetuate that establishment. In
  newspapers, women are rarely accepted at the
  upper levels of the organisation.
• Family responsibilities treated with distrust,
  work twice as hard
• Lack of professional bodies It was argued that
  such a body would e.g. fight for facilities.

20
Issues

• Current definition of news and news practices A
  need to re-invent, redefine, renew and re-imagine
  news for our (post-colonial) post-apartheid
  society. One respondent Broader, deeper,
  constant debate as to what constitutes news, and
  what sort of social reality affects/ underpins
  news events, news production and the social
  responsibility of news purveyors as
  monitors/watchdogs/ reporters
• Non-existence of workshops, leadership seminars,
  career plans, mentors Workshops to address
  obstacles also for men I dont want them (men)
  to feel alienated and marginalised because the
  struggle is for equality and empowerment, not for
  reverse discrimination.
• Lack of political will
• Thirty years ago my fate and that of others was
  decided by a clique of men in power, often while
  they networked in the pub! Nothing has changed
• A majority of senior men think political
  correctness is a joke. I regularly see
  relatively junior women staffers asked
  (half-jokingly, maybe..?) to get tea referred to
  as girls and if not exactly sexually harassed,
  then certainly expected to participate in banter
  that many might find undermining

21
Recommendations

• General conscientising
• Building allies (also among women)
• Business plans supporting gender policies
• A willingness by companies to foster change
• Training and development programmes
• The outlining of career paths
• Better strategies than just fining non-deliverers
  in terms of equity laws
• Facilities (e.g. a crèche)
• Flexible working hours/work
• Supportive and enabling environment
• Employment conditions
• Developmental plans such as workshops, also for
  men
• Intrinsic institutional reform
• Also requested
• Audit to get statistics of how many women are on
  which levels,
• Study on sexual harassment

22
Its about the money, honey

• The fact that womens empowerment means more
  disposable income, and that more women in the
  newsroom, also on senior levels would lead to
  higher women content would be to the benefit of
  the bottom-line, was also identified.
• This is not about activism alone it makes good
  sense to be relevant to women readers as they are
  becoming a global majority of increasing economic
  oomph
• Sadly, the commercial imperative, if nothing
  else, should provide the impetus for male
  decision makers in the media world to implement
  change.
• As one respondent said its about the money,
  honey

23
Way forward within Sanef

• No more lip service
• A Sanef commitment to be an agent of change is
  called for at
• a Forum level AND
• member-organisational level
• an Action Plan on Gender that would address and
  redress the imbalances (such as the MAP
  SAEF/Gender Links on HIV/Aids and Gender)
• Proposal a team, tasked by Sanef through its
  AGM, and representative of all media affiliated
  to Sanef through its editors, should work on a
  strategic plan to redress the identified
  imbalances work within a realistic time frame

24

• One respondent summed it up Just do it
• One last thought
• For evil to succeed, it takes far too many good
  people
• to keep quiet and stand by
• Percy Qoboza
• The original quote, All that is necessary for
  evil to succeed is that good men do nothing
• by Edmund Burke, was adapted by Qoboza