Winds of change blowing in the South African media with more female voices in the corridors of power

By Themba Sepotokele

Sixteen years since the dawn of the democratic dispensation, the positive winds of change are gradually blowing in the South African media.

The fourth estate, known for its patriarchy – with male faces dominating at the helm of editorial management, journalists, male analysts and experts have of late shown some signs of improvement.  The recent appointment of Phylicia Oppelt, Business Times editor, brings to three the number of women editors – others being Zingisa Mkhuma of the Pretoria News and Ferial Haffajee of City Press.

During my journalistic stint at The Star, there was a concerted effort to bring more women voices as sources and analysts. The Gender Commission also developed media contacts of female experts ranging from media to economists, but most were either media shy or were not trained to deal with the media; therefore that exercise was like climbing Mount Everest.

Fast forward to 2010, I am elated, though not over the moon about the progress made thus far in having female voices.

Now I am, like most South African’s, suffering from Malema-fatigue - yes I have had enough of Julius Malema and his antics. Everytime he spouts bile it makes media headlines. Juju is more popular than five Cabinet Ministers and provincial MECs. Yes, Ek is gatvol! Ndidiniwe! Ke kgathetse. Enough is enough. He should stop speaking without talking.

I have, however found comfort and solace in reading articles and columns penned by female writers, especially black writers. I am also really tired of the over-exposed male experts such as Steve Friedman, Xolelwa Mangu, Auburey Matshiqe, Professor Sipho Seepe, Professor Tom Lodge who seems to have hibernated.  Most of them have reached a sell-by date.

With The Sowetan having solicitated 702 Radio talk host Redi Direko, Business Day with Roda Kadalia, Neva Makgetla and Hillary Joffe, The Sunday Times has the sharp as a razor Pinky Khoabane and have recently enlisted Marianne Thamm.

The Sunday Independent has the intelligent and refreshing voice of Nompumelelo Sibalakhulu, a researcher at Institute for Security Studies, The Star with Heide Holland and Tselane Tambo, The Citizen with Sonile Nokuthula and The Times with Oppelet, Phumla Matjila and Jacquie Myburgh. I believe that the balancing of gender in the media is a step in the right direction. The Mail & Guardian has the witty Nikiwe Bikitsha, so is the Sunday World with Kuli Roberts and her hilarious pillow talk column. Her latest offering “Hey, all men rock – of course I love them … for selfish reasons,” left me in stitches.

We need more of new, sober and intelligent voices including those of Pheko sisters, Mohau and Lebogang.

These female writers are tackling tough issues from calling the bully from Limpopo to behave as it was the case with the articles written by Tselane Tambo and Heidi Hollan. Pinky Khoboane, for those who missed out, once shredded Clayson Monyela, a former journalist and spokesperson for the Limpopo Housing MEC Soviet Lekganyane. They also tackle soft issues such as music to beauty products. These columnists are worth the salt, the ink and paper.

Gone are the days when female writers would be reduced to agony columnist and recipe reporters, telling how to bake muffins or hot cross buns. They ask tough and relevant questions and if you miss them, you do so at your own peril.

We need more of such voices, some of the former and present journalists such as Lulama Luti, Sonti Maseko, Nomavenda Mathiane, Pearl Ranketseng, Bongiwe Mlangeni, Charity Bengu, Motshidisi Mokwena, Pearl Sebolao, Jackie Mapiloko (joined Mail & Guardian) and Lizeka Mda (destiny unknown) – sadly they both left City Press under the editorship of a woman.

I cannot but feel proud of the silent developments in the media fraternity, although it has been prompted by competiton, rivalry and the need to have women voices heard.  However, much more still needs to be done. 

How strange it is that a few years ago, my former female boss accused me of being a chauvinist, of being difficult and refusing to take instructions from female colleagues. Unfortunately I don’t take orders and instructions from non-starters and mediocre managers, be it male or female.

PS: Shame to the members of the ANC Women’s League who turned their provincial conference in Limpopo into a catfight instead of discussing policy issues. Yours was just a disgrace and maybe we should refer to you as the ANC Girls' League.

The writer is a former journalist. He is now a government communicator based in Gauteng and a media trainer attached to the Sol Plaatje Institute for Media Leadership at Rhodes University in Grahamstown. He writes in his own personal capacity.

A feminine feminist

By Rumbidzayi Dube, PDMM student

Until recently, being discriminated against as a woman had not been a huge factor for me. Don’t get me wrong, on countless occasions I have been objectified by my male counterparts, but I think it has become the norm so much so that I consider it a way of life. I am not saying that such occasions do not get mundane, annoying or just plain insulting. I am saying that overall, I get the occasional encounter, but in my life thus far, I generally have not felt discriminated against. It could be due to the fact that I am quite outspoken and am generally unafraid to stand up for myself so much so that discriminators cannot help but let me be.

It was not until my colleagues at the Sol Plaatje Institute made a presentation on the role of women in media that a switch suddenly went on in my head. I am now constantly aware of the degree of inequality when it comes to gender. After the presentation and discussion we had, I began to question the way in which women were represented in society- as sexual objects or victims of abuse. Reading an article by Colleen Lowe Morna further fuelled my interest. It gave me clarity on the levels of inequality and that it is not an issue being faced in African society alone- a society which is very much patriarchal. The so-called developed world still has a long way to go itself, and it makes me wonder, what more for ‘under-developed’ Africa and its low levels of education?

Listening to Harry Dugmore voice these issues during one of our lectures on the Essentials of Digital Media Management, an alarm bell sprang in my head. There seriously is an issue. Reiterating the need for change, I was disappointed to find out that a close friend who with a stable, well paying job and great credit rating was unable to get a bank loan because she was not married. Surely if even the educated banking professionals cannot see beyond gender how can we expect the average person with basic education to even fathom some sort of equality between men and women?

Truth be told, I have always been anxious of playing an active role when it comes to gender issues. I wonder to myself if it is possible to defend women’s rights and fight for equality without seeming like a fascist? I even hesitate to use the word ‘feminist’ because so often, it has negative connotations. To me, it implies a woman with no feminine qualities, dressing like a man and bullying the opposite sex into submission. Surely this cannot be the criteria used to qualify to be a feminist? I personally love to celebrate many of the ‘girlie’ activities that many associate with being a lady- going shopping, getting my hair done, watching romantic comedies whilst nibbling on some chocolate. I do not believe, however, that this takes away from my passion to promote the often silenced voice of women around the world.

I realise now that although certain things do not affect me on a personal level, I have the opportunity and resources to be the voice for many who have been silenced. I can be the voice not only in terms of issues pertaining to violence and abuse, but issues such as equal pay and women’s ability to succeed not just at baking a cake, but making our way up the ranks in many organisations donning high heels and perfectly manicured nails. I am beginning to realise that it can be done, and I can still enjoy the perks of being a woman and expect men to be chivalrous, but also have a say and make a mark on my way. I can be a feminine feminist.

SPI PDMM - What a start!

By Boldwill Hungwe - PDMM Knight Scholar and experienced Zimbabwean journalist

Upon arriving at the Sol Plaatje Institute for Media Leadership to revitalise the entrepreneurial spirit in me that has been dormant for a couple of years, least did I know that it does not take a huge gong to provoke it. In fact, I grew up being told that you can only be a successful entrepreneur or manager if you are exposed to an affluent upbringing where Dad comes back at sunset from work, carrying a briefcase and ask you to park his car in the garage carefully, not to knock down his golf clubs.

You needed no one to tell you that you are going to run your own business in the not so distant future. It was hereditary-from parents to children. But my parents had no car, a golf kit nor even a tuck-shop to run. My Dad, a Pastor, has spent most of his gracious time telling people to be comfortable with whom they are. We were actually told by our elders that the only goal we could reach was a tertiary institute and probably, if God allows, to be a nurse or teacher despite having other aspirations. Running your own company or assuming a managerial position was a pipeline dream.

I remember one day when I awoke from this mindset after reading one of the motivational statements that was said by Dr Myles Munroe (a motivational speaker from Bahamas) that the “world’s greatest wealth is the cemetery-where many big dreams never found their fruition”. Coming from a learning environment where the teacher is the “king” and dictates your learning process and defines you career path, discovering whether you are a leader or entrepreneur took a miracle. No one even told us that by running our backyard vegetable gardens that was the first precise step towards running a business.

It needs such reputable institutes like Sol Plaatji to help people discover their potential and who they are in the world of business. The first day I attended a lecture, I discovered one of the most important attributes about Sol Plaatje Post Graduate Diploma in Media Management curricular. The class is yours. It’s just like “being given money to go on a shopping spree”. The critical part is the choices one makes thereafter. At the same time the Lecturer helps you to navigate through the revealing modules, because obviously we know our destination, but someone else knows the route and terrain.

When I went through the first module with Francis at one moment I thought “business has some spiritual aspect to it”. Analysing some of the case studies, you make some of the most critical decisions about your own life. You are taken through a cleansing process that exposes you, breaks you apart and starts building you anew. The interesting part of the course is that you will be self-evaluating yourself, repositioning your attitudes and redefining who you are as an aspiring manager or entrepreneur. It’s a total change of mindset. And this comes not from anything out of this world but by learning from the mistakes and successes of other prominent business people around the world whom you thought are the “untouchables of this world”.

I have known Francis as veteran African journalist and an avid follower of Formula One, but his teaching method is such a peculiar art and he has taken me into this “business journey” where you certainly have to be rebaptised. In life you just have to be at the right place at the right time. Francis, thanks for the introduction. I feel at home.

Kenya races ahead of SA to provide varied media menu

By Francis Mdlongwa

A mobile phone company is hurriedly assembling editors and journalists to staff its digital media content distribution hub; a 24-hour television network has been launched both online and offline; and nearly half a dozen private television stations have sprung up.

Welcome to the ‘new’ Kenya. It’s good news for Kenyan audiences, though not necessarily for the incumbent traditional media houses.

The East African nation is quietly racing ahead of South Africa -- long regarded as Africa’s leader in economic, political, military and other fields -- in providing a rich and varied media menu to audiences.

Kenya’s largest mobile phone group, Safaricom, has started hiring editors to comb through local and foreign media to “localise and customise” news stories and information for its mobile subscribers, who, according to the firm’s half-year financials to September 2009, were 15 million in a country of 40 million people.

Could Safaricom be thinking of extending its news service to include deploying its own journalists to cover stories within Kenya and in neighbouring countries? Watch this space.

A new private television station, Kiss Television, which describes itself in Facebook as the “hypiest new TV station in Kenya”, went on air late last year to provide non-stop, 24-hour music for Kenya’s huge youthful audiences.

Operating both offline and online, Kiss serves up a diet of the latest hip hop sounds, rhythm and blues, soul and gospel music. Viewers and listeners phone in or SMS the station or go through the net to select a music video of their choice, which then automatically queues up to play, like the juke box of yesterday’s good, old world.

As well as relying on advertising, Kiss Television’s business model is based on sharing phone-in revenues with its telecoms partner.

Safaricom’s bold entry into journalism and of Kiss TV into the broadcast sector are but only the latest signs of a rapidly growing and dynamic media industry in Kenya since the 1990s liberalisation of the broadcasting and telecoms sectors there.

Safricom’s action in particular has many editors of Kenyan newspapers, radio and television stations worried because it potentially raises significantly competition for audiences among media firms in an already highly segmented and hyper-competitive market.

As David Maingi, head of corporate affairs at Nation Media Group (NMG), the largest media group in East and Central Africa as measured by market capitalisation and media presence in that region, told foreign journalists visiting Kenya recently:

“Kenyan editors are scrambling in all directions searching for answers as to what to do next, wondering about the impact on their media of Safaricom’s entry into the journalistic content market. No one can tell yet what it will be… but we have already been losing a sizeable slice of our market to the current heightened competition.”

As well as the state-run Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, which owns radio stations and a television service, Kenyans now wake up to watch around seven private television stations, most of which broadcast 24 hours across the nation, and to listen to several dozen radio stations, also run by private capital.

The competition for audiences is already stiff and it seems certain it will get tougher in the coming days, weeks and months.

The television stations range from K24, owned by Kenya’s emerging media tycoon and Nairobi University journalism graduate Rose Kimotho; to Nation Television (NTV) and Kenya Television Network (KTN).

NTV is owned by NMG, publishers of the once best-selling Daily Nation and several other newspapers, and KTN is owned by Kenya’s Standard Media Group, which also publishes several newspapers, including the daily Standard.

The news-driven television stations are modelled along the lines of the Atlanta-headquartered Cable News Network and the BBC World Television Service.

But I was most impressed by their fiercely-independent and balanced news, and their well-researched and packaged in-depth news analyses which would be the envy of many people “Down South” and elsewhere around the world. More so in today’s world which is largely dominated by “sound-byte” journalism that gives little meaning and context to the news!

One indicator of growing competition among media is the fact that the daily circulation of the Daily Nation is now around 100,000 versus 200,000 five years ago, Maingi said, noting the big negative impact of the internet and of several media companies that have sprung up in Kenya.

“Through research, we are constantly trying to understand why we are losing these readers,” he said.

“The internet has obviously had a huge impact because it offers free news, but we must re-position ourselves and constantly re-evaluate and renew ourselves if we are still to be the most desirable media leader in this region.”

While it is arguable whether a majority of “monied” Kenyans have access to the internet, it is clear that its advent, combined with new “sensationalist” newspapers which Kenyans brand the “gutter press”, plus new radio and television stations, has significantly raised competition among media for segmented news audiences.





One of the challenges for NMG – indeed for most media around the world– is for the group to work out whether it can make more money out of advertising by going totally online, as the Christian Science Monitor in the US has done, or continuing to serve its audiences with a fuller package offline.

Experience so far from the US shows that newspapers which have moved part of their content online are getting an average of only 12% of their advertising income from this platform – this is despite the fact that most American audiences are online (A year ago, South Africa’s Mail and Guardian reported that its online edition was contributing around 15% of total income).

Of course, the situation in Africa is vastly different, with most audiences and advertisers still relying on the hard-copy editions of newspapers.

In the developed world, advertisers have not exactly followed content online, partly because the advertisers themselves can now go direct to customers using both online and mobile solutions.

One other key lesson for traditional media in the ‘age of discontinuity’, to quote C Christensen, is that they must not willy-nilly jump onto the bandwagon of the digital media platforms, throwing away all the good work which they would have done in the past to be successful.

Yes, they need to experiment and innovate with digital media and never be left behind, choosing what works for their media firms and market. But they need to do much more to perfect their core business (eg being a market leader in investigative journalism or in financial markets reportage) which would have fuelled their success.

Whatever platform media firms choose to use, audiences will still require content that is highly relevant to their needs and wants, is exclusive and helps to improve their lives and is presented accurately, truthfully and in a fair and balanced manner.

Yes, because of the migration of large segments of audiences to digital platforms, especially mobile, it is crucial for a media firm to be present there to experiment with how it can innovatively serve audiences while also making money.

South African media, especially print, should learn a lesson or two from their Kenyan counterparts. One of these is that South African newspapers should take bold steps to prevent a situation like that of the Daily Nation, whose circulation has halved in just a short five years.

There is also a lesson for South Africa from the mushrooming Kenyan media. South Africa needs to move faster in liberalising its broadcast sector so that more players can come in, not just to make the numbers but to add value and diversity in content in a rapidly fragmenting industry.

Sixteen years after South Africa’s freedom, the country south of the Limpopo still has just two main national broadcasters, a development which severely limits audiences’ choices.

Although pay-TV broadcasting licences have been granted to several companies, we are yet to see these come alive and offer a diverse range of content and programming which fosters healthy competition and hopefully gets the nation truly engaged in discourse about how it wants to live and to be governed.

Indeed one could argue that most South Africans can hardly afford to have access to pay television, so there is a need to open up the broadcasting sector to more free-to-air channels for the general public.