Sexuality in Media: Emerging Issues in Africa - Africa Regional ...

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Sexuality in the Media: Emerging Issues in Africa During the month of March, sexuality issues published as features by the Parents magazine accounted for 90%. The Insyder Magazine Sexuality issues in The Insyder magazine were reported either as features (12), letters to the editor (8) or commentaries (8). In the features category sexuality education and HIV/AIDS received the highest number of articles as shown in the table below. Table 12: Positioning of sexuality issues in the Insyder Magazine (Jan-Feb and May-June 2004* Issues) Sexuality issues Sexuality And Sexual Education HIV/AIDS Reproductive Health And Rights Sexual Orientation And Identity Sexual Violence Child Marriage Total News Feature Letter Advertisement Commentary 0 5 6 5 0 0 6 1 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 *March-April magazine data not available. The reason why there were no news articles is because this is a teen bi-monthly magazine and thus most of the articles are features rather than news. The Daily Nation Daily/Sunday Nation published 17 articles on the front pages, another 20 were in the second pages while 23 others were published on page three. During the same period, the newspaper had 11 articles on sexuality published at the back page. Summary and Conclusions • This study finds that HIV/AIDS, sexuality and sexuality education, reproductive health and rights and sexual violence received the highest press coverage during the six-month period. On the other hand, sexual orientation and identity and child marriage by far received the least press coverage. For example, The Parents magazine did not have any articles on sexual orientation and child marriage, while The Insyder had only one article on 0 0 12 8 8 0 0 0 Coverage Of Sexuality Issues in the Print Media in Kenya sexual orientation and identity and none on child marriage. However, despite this, coverage of sexuality issues in the print was very limited compared to other issues that were given prominence in the newspapers. • Most of the feature articles on sexuality issues were placed in the pull out magazines in the newspapers where they are placed together with articles that report on fashions trends, fiction and laughter. Although these magazines are widely read, there is need to give sexuality concerns more serious coverage. • There was very little opinion and advocacy articles on sexuality issues. • Most of the sexuality issues were covered only when they qualified as news (tragedies or scandals) and thus took position in the main pages of the press. In conclusion, therefore, while looking at sexuality in the media, it is important to understand the environment in which the media operates. Kenya is a very conservative country where discussion of sexuality is taboo. This in effect impacts the editorial policies of many media houses making them also conservative and moralistic to conform to societal expectations. In such context, media would be reluctant to report on sexuality issues fearing that the audience may not like what they report or for fear of litigation. It is also important to remember that the existence of a media house is dependent on the revenue generated. In this regard, majority of what is covered/reported should be able to attract revenue in various ways including advertisement. Recommendations In light of the findings, the following recommendations are made. • There is need to increase levels of knowledge on the importance of sexuality issues and sexuality education so that they are covered, not just when they qualify as scandals and tragedies, but also for purposes of educating the public. This calls for increased engagement between the media fraternity and key actors in the field of sexuality. • Training of those responsible for policy making is important in order to educate them on the importance of sexuality. This training should include those responsible for editorial polices in media houses in order to increase coverage and promote sexuality education through the media. • Sexuality issues should be linked to major issues in the society, for example poverty, gender empowerment, and legislation among others since these affect sexuality in various ways. In this way, coverage of sexuality concerns would be more acceptable even to those with a moralistic background. • There is need for a study on the knowledge and attitudes towards sexuality among people in the media. This is because coverage of sexuality is determined by their knowledge about sexuality issues.
Sexuality in the Media: Emerging Issues in Africa References Action Health Incorporated (2003) Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Trainers' Resource Manual, Lagos: Action Health Inc. Government of Kenya (2003), The Children Act 2002, Government Printers, Nairobi Herbert, J. (2001). Practicing Global Journalism. Oxford: Focal Press. NCPD (1996). National Population Advocacy and IEC Strategy for Sustainable Development 1996-2001.Nairobi: National Council for Population and Development. NCPD (2000). Sessional Paper No.1 of 2000 on National Population Policy for Sustainable Development. Nairobi: National Council for Population and Development. Odero, M. and E. Kamweru (2000). Media Culture and Performance in Kenya. Nairobi: Institute of Mass Communication Odhiambo, L. (2000). Mass Media and the AIDS Pandemic in Kenya 1997- 1998- A Moral Panic Perspective in Baofo K. S. T. and Carlos A. Amaldo (2000). Wikipedia (2002), the Free Encuclopaedia. Free software Foundation Inc. Boston, USA. Newspapers and Magazines st th All Nation Newspapers 1 January-30 June 2004 th All East African Standard Newspapers 1st January-30 June 2004 th All Kenya Times Newspapers 1st January-30 June 2004 th All People Newspapers 1st January-30 June 2004 Parents Magazine publications -March, April and May The Insyder Magazine Publications -January, February, May and June Introduction Exposure to the Media in Egypt In addition to the classic function of informing the general population, in many countries the media play a vital role in drawing the attention of programme managers and policy makers to the strengths and weaknesses of the programmes by publishing critical reviews on program performance, identifying potential problems, and highlighting successes (Hegazi and Khalifa, 2000). Several studies in Egypt show that literate men and women have the habit of reading newspapers and magazines (Hegazi and Khalifa, 2000). The 2003 EDHS collected information on the exposure of women to various mass media including television, radio, and print media (i.e. magazines and newspapers). These data are important for designing media interventions. Table (1) Percentage Distribution of the Participants by their Exposure to the Media Watch T.V. Weekly Type of Media Percent of those who are exposed Listen to the Radio Weekly Read Newspapers/Magazines All three Media No Media Exposure 92.9 63.5 20.9 16.2 4.8 Source: Adapted from EDHS (2003) table 1.11 page 14 Table (1) Shows that print materials are the least of the three major media sources. Among those who are exposed to the print media, it seems that residence, education and work status are major determining factors (see Table 2).
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