Women and the Mass Media in Africa: Case Studies of Sierra Leone, the Niger and Egypt. African Training and Research Centre for Women/Voluntary Fund for the United Nations Decade for Women Research Series. Researchers: Elma Lititia Anani, Alkaly Miriama Kieta and Awatef Abdel Rahman. Addis Ababa, 1981.







Introduction

If Africa is to develop as rapidly as it might, the potential impact of the mass media must be recognized. The press, radio and television can be effective instruments for promoting education, economic development and social change.

Women have an especially important role to play in the development of Africa.  By its portrayal of women, the mass media can either impede or foster women's integration in the development process.  If women are portrayed only in traditional roles in the media, society's attitudes and women's expectations for themselves will necessarily be confined to these roles.  On the other hand, if the media's image of women reflects the full range of contributions women are capable of making to society, societal attitudes towards women will be correspondingly broadened

To date, virtually no research has been carried out on women and the mass media in Africa; this study is the first to analyze women's image in the media.  It also documents the small number of women in policy-making positions in the African media, which necessarily affects the media's portrayal of women.  Since the mass media in Africa are in their infancy, it is hoped that the implications of women's current media image will be carefully considered by media policy makers, with a view to establishing future media policies which will foster women's participation in the development of Africa.

This three-part paper consists of individual case studies of the mass media in Sierra Leone, the Niger and Egypt. Ms. Elma Lititia Anani, who conducted the Sierra Leon study, has served as an education officer in the Sierra Leone Ministry of Education, where she directed the educational broadcasting unit. She has also published a study entitled “Radio and television n the education process of Sierrra Leone”. Ms. Alkaly Miriam Keita, who researched the mss media in the niger has had extensive experience in radio broadcasting. She has created numerous radio programmes and has been a frequent radio guest speaker. A journalist by training, she is a regular contributor to several AFrican publications and also participates actively in women's training and educational activities in the Niger. M. Awtef Abdel Rahman, who carried out the research on Egypt, is a professor of mass communications at Cairo University. She holds a Ph.D. in journalism and has written numerous publications. Among these are “The role of Egyptian women in development as presented by Egyptian newspapers during 1970” and “the Role of African mass communication in consolidating Afro-Arab relations”.