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Media in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia generally show a positive attitude towards women
taking part in political life. However, women politicians are
underrepresented in the media. Even during the elections in Algeria and Morocco this year, female candidates were only given limited
coverage.
 As part of the UN-INSTRAW/CAWTAR project “Women's Political
Participation in Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco,” which aims to reinforce
women’s leadership and participation in politics and decision-making
processes in the three countries, special attention has been given to the
visibility of the actions and contribution of women who have already reached
the political sphere. Written press, television and radio can play a crucial
role in the promotion and legitimization of women´s political participation.
Therefore, media representation of these women is in the limelight of a new
project study, conducted by students from departments of information and
communication in the three countries as part of their graduate degree.
In Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, women’s political participation has been amplified
during the last years, mainly due to increased access to education and the
incorporation of women in the labour market. Still, women are
underrepresented in the political sphere, as well as in the legal and
institutional fields.
Governmental discourses in the three countries go hand in hand with UN
recommendations and the demands from civil society organizations, such as
women’s organizations and human rights movements, on the need to promote
women’s political participation. During the last years, civil society and
women’s organizations have urged governments to adopt a quota system to
guarantee more women access to decision-making spaces, and to include this
quota in constitutional texts and electoral laws. However, this agenda has
been successful to differing degrees in the three countries - one notes
a favourable attitude in Morocco and Tunisia,
whereas the presidential majority in Algeria has decided against such measures.
An earlier report on Arab women in regional media, produced by the Center for
Arab Women Training and Research (CAWTAR) in 2006, shows that women, in the
rare cases when they are represented in a positive way in the media, are
pictured as active, and often in decision-making positions in the public
sphere. Thus, media play an important role in the promotion of female
leadership and political participation, but these results are insufficient.
The media exercise “Media coverage of the political participation of women in
Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia,” shows that media do not give a balanced image reflecting
the important political contribution of women in political parties, civil
society or other representative institutions. It is true that quantitatively,
women in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia have a small presence in the political sphere, and
media coverage reflects this absence. However, the diversity of women who are
active in the public sphere is very seldom portrayed in the media.
In the three countries, media treatment of the issue of women’s political
participation is occasional and selective. Occasional as it reflects mainly
activities such as demonstrations, elections or other public meetings, rather
than drawing attention to thematic issues; and selective in the sense that it
gives attention to certain female political profiles and ignores others.
Even during the recent electoral processes in Algeria and Morocco, when one would presume that there would be a media
interest in female candidates, women are seldom quoted in articles or given
coverage in the press. However, media in the three countries, independently
of political orientation, generally show a positive attitude towards women
taking part in the political life. The study shows that female journalists
are more prone to write about other women active in the political sphere.
However both male and female journalists, when writing about female
politicians, picture them in a positive way.
One conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that the weak
representation of women actors in the media is a result of two crucial factors.
Firstly, women have little experience in approaching the media; and secondly,
media organizations show little interest in diversifying their content and
taking into account these issues, even though they can be considered of
general interest for society as a whole.
As an example, female ministers with a large portfolio of public issues get
some media attention, although limited. At the same time, debate and
analytical programmes seldom invite women to give their views on more general
subjects.
The main recommendations that arise from the study are to:
• Conduct further research on women´s representation in the media,
encouraging media students to carry out more thorough studies and identify
quantitative and qualitative indicators as a basis for in-depth analysis.
Students conducting the current study showed great interest in the process.
• Organize analytical workshops on female representation in the media with
political parties and press associations on order to spur changes. The
workshops should emphasize the positive attitude that can be seen in the
media towards women in politics and stress the role that journalists can play
in promoting women´s political activity.
• Follow up with journalists who have already shown certain interest in
the topic, as they can also influence their colleagues.
• Identify obstacles that women face in political life. Political parties
play an unquestionable role, and must assume their responsibility to giving
visibility and voice to female candidates and other active women.
• Diversify media training for politically active women.
• Urge women in politics to explore and take advantage of web-based
communication, such as blogs and other virtual tools, by organizing training
sessions on communication and information technology.
Read the whole study here (In French)
Read more
about the project, financed by the Spanish Agency for International
Development Cooperation (AECID) here (French) and here (English)
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