Media & Society Conference Rural Women in the Media presentation by Manana Monareng Communications Officer National Community Radio Forum (NCRF)

Who are we? The National Community Radio Forum (NCRF), is a national, membership-driven association of CR stations & support service organisations in SA.  formed in 1993 in Orlando, Soweto,  to lobby & advocate for the diversification of the airwaves in South Africa,  to foster a dynamic broadcasting environment in the country through the establishment of community radio stations,  currently 120 CR station projects in its membership (80 on-air 40 waiting to be licensed by ICASA.

 Gender is one of the primary fault-lines in SA politics & media despite the feminists challenge of conventional assumptions about the role of women in society;  The political agenda has become deeply polarized by issues like affirmative action, same-sex marriages and welfare reform – no more space for gender debates;  Less productivity often blamed on the female leadership because of lack of understanding their management style or adaptation phase;  Rural women are often represented by views of their urban counterparts - not always correct; Our View 1: Rural Women in the Media

media coverage of women in SA reinforces rather than challenges the dominant culture & contributes toward women's marginalization in public life; because of the above, it can be argued that journalism fails to meet its minimum professional standards. (e.g.: informativeness, truth, accuracy, objectivity, and balance); media preaches “women empowerment” but lacks development tools for women journos; the media should be pluralist, reflecting the diversity of society, giving access to various points of view, and avoiding giving offence to minority groups. Our View 2: Rural Women in the Media

Our Work: Rural Women in the Media Because we work with CBOs (most rural) our work focuses on building an enabling environment to contribute in a healthy growth of community radio in SA. We do this by:  Setting standards for the sector and monitoring implementation;  Providing information and advice to membership;  Representing the collective interests of members;  Creating structures and systems that encourage community radio stations to share experiences, skills, best practice models and resources;  Coordinating capacity building in the sector;  Forging strategic alliances and partnerships with key stakeholders to facilitate delivery of services, resources, funding and support to both members and the sector;  Lobbying and doing advocacy work to promote and protect the sector.

Sectoral Focus … since 2001  national research & needs analysis report looked at: - representation of CRs - experiences of CRs - gender awareness through CR programming - capacity building for women broadcasters - setting up of CR Women’s Network (later called CR Gender Network  “Speak Out” newsletter gave women in CR a platform;  adoption of NCRF Constitutional Amendment making it compulsory that the NCRF Board have a gender ratio of 40:60 or 50:50, i.e. neither gender would have fewer than 40 percent of Board seats

Forging stakeholders relationships – to get support on sectoral issue understanding and lobbying plans (e.g.: WomensNet, FIRE, AGENDA, CGE, Gender Links, DCFRN, etc.); Capacity Building - training of women on new broadcast technologies, quality content production and giving support to the development of women; Achieving women representation on the governance structures in the CR sector; Development of radio programmes that offer women a platform to express their views and take charge of their own development. Sectoral Focus … since 2004

Working Together  CR is the communication platform of civil society – allows access to vital knowledge for development of rural and often poor citizens;  Civil society organisations have a responsibility to educate and raise awareness on issues of concern within the community;  CR is merely a tool for communities to use to discuss, debate and find solutions to social ills;  Communities needs to take ownership of the CRS as custodians of community development.

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