16 Days of Activism and gender stereotypes in Ilanga, Isolezwe and UmAfrika newspapers

Abstract

Previous research such as that conducted by the Media Monitoring Project (1998) and the activism study by Harris and Bird (2005) has shown that gender-based violence (including women and child abuse) receives increased media coverage during the annual 16 Days of Activism campaign. During the 16 Days of Activism campaign in 2005, the isiZulu newspapers, Ilanga, Isolezwe and UmAfrika, published an increased number of articles related to gender-based violence among several of the Zulu communities in KwaZulu-Natal. However, the news selected and the language of reporting in isiZulu newspapers still reinforce traditional gender stereotypes. This article uses Dirven and Verspoor's (2004: 97) framework of conceptual event schemas to analyse the written language and pictures in articles that were published in the three isiZulu newspapers. It argues that women are still presented as weak and passive victims of violence. Where women have successfully acted against violence, their actions are marginalised in reporting. Furthermore, it argues that isiZulu newspapers display violent situations to which women are subjected and in the process reinforce gender stereotypes that still prevail in Zulu communities. Such stereotypes perpetuate the very gender-based violence that the 16 Days of Activism campaign is trying to counter.