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Media Monitoring from 15-31 May 2004
Federation of African Media Women of Zimbabwe (FAMWZ)
July 23, 2004

http://www.famwz.org.zw/efokas/monitoring/monitoring_15_31_2004.htm

Introduction
The analysis is based on the monitoring of the Herald, Standard, Financial Gazette, and Sunday Mail from the period of 15 to 31 May 2004. 20 papers were monitored. Only stories from local media and local reporters were monitored. These excluded news briefs from news wires such as AFP, Reuters, BBC and letters to the editors. 

Analysis
In all the papers that were monitored, men make up 87% of all the sources quoted and women make up a paltry 13%. In the last two weeks of May The Standard was the worst performer with just 2% female sources and 98% male sources. One of the contributory factors could be that in all the papers monitored Politics and Business stories make up the majority of news articles. Women in these genres are not considered newsworthy or even as sources of news. The only woman who was being written about in politics was the Acting Mayor Makwavarara whom the media was accusing of being incompetent and extravagant.

Women are quoted more in news items that are considered "soft". The analysis shows that women make up the majority of sources in stories on HIV/AIDS, Health, Parenting, Disability and Developmental Issues. Issues to do with politics, the economy, governance and sports are the men’s domains and they are the ones who comment. Controversial issues are also left to the men to comment on. For example, the majority of stories in the second week of May in agriculture were on the wrangle between government and the former owners of Kondozi Farm. It is notable that in the 50 stories studied, 54 men were quoted and no women were quoted at all in Agriculture.  

The qualitative analysis showed that some of the reports that are in the papers are blatantly sexist and represent women in stereotypical roles. This selective view of women does not show women in their various roles in the society. This phenomenon can be looked at as the "symbolic annihilation" of women because it would seem as if women are only present in certain areas but not in others such as politics, Business, etc. An example is a story; " Sex symposium takes women by storm. Is the doctrine fair?", that appeared in The Financial Gazette of 20-26 May 2004. The story was on visiting sex therapists who were holding a workshop for women on sex and sexuality.  

The stories that are in the papers are event-oriented, and not issue-oriented. They focus on events that have taken place and not at the issues that can be raised from the stories. An example of this kind of reporting is a story that appeared in The Herald of 31 May 2004 titled "Man killed over cigarette." The article focused on a friend who killed his other friend over a cigarette. The reporter failed to unpack socio-economic issues that could have motivated the man to kill his friend.

Some weekly papers like Financial Gazette and Standard have the habit of quoting unknown sources or high placed sources especially in stories, which are economically and politically sensitive. 

Apart from the above the reporters fail to give gender segregated data, especially in cases to do with crime or accidents.

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