The Voices Forgotten by The Fourth Estate: A Report on Gender Bias in the Media Ahead of Zambia’s 2021 Elections
Categories: Human Rights, The Field of Women, Peace and Security
Sub-Categories: COVID-19, Democratization and Political Participation, Economic Participation, Political Transitions
Country: Zambia
Region: Sub-Saharan Africa
Year: 2022
Citation: "The Voices Forgotten by The Fourth Estate: A Report on Gender Bias in the Media Ahead of Zambia’s 2021 Elections." Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development. March 2022.
Sub-Categories: COVID-19, Democratization and Political Participation, Economic Participation, Political Transitions
Country: Zambia
Region: Sub-Saharan Africa
Year: 2022
Citation: "The Voices Forgotten by The Fourth Estate: A Report on Gender Bias in the Media Ahead of Zambia’s 2021 Elections." Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development. March 2022.
Executive Summary
This report is our first analysis of the barriers that gender-biased reporting poses to women political candidates, looking at the 2021 Zambian elections as a case study.
The data collected through media monitoring and interviews with a selection of Zambian journalists and women candidates painted a concerning picture of the media landscape. The report highlights chronic underreporting of women candidates in the run-up to the Zambian 2021 general and presidential elections, with only 18.15% of 1,344 articles across 8 Zambian news outlets mentioning women candidates. Evidence of the use of toxic and derogatory language targeted at women candidates was also found.