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It is abundantly clear that as far as gender is concerned, the media in southern Africa needs towork harder to fulfil its function as an educational tool. Since 1995, the Global Media MonitoringProject (GMMP) has systematically monitored the representation of women and men inthe news at five-year intervals. On a chosen day, countries around the world grade their mainbroadcast and print media to determine the levels of gender sensitivity in the news.The news media is seen to reflect the views of citizens across the globe. But if what is beingexperienced in Africa is anything to go by, it will take another century to inculcate the values ofgender equality in Africa, and the global psyche in general.Little changeAs confirmed in the 2005 GMMP survey that was taken on February 16, only 19 per cent of theAfrican continent’s news subjects were women, compared to 81 per cent men. This was amarginal improvement on the 17 per cent realised five years ago.In comparison, the Middle East was worse off with only 15 per cent female news subjects inthe 2005 survey. The regions with the highest figures were North America and the Pacific, bothat 26 per cent.These figures all fall far short of the 50-50 representation that women’s rights organisationsaround the world are struggling to achieve. However, that there is a rise at all in the percentagesof female news subjects is an achievement.In 1995 when the GMMP was first introduced as a tool to monitor gender representation, only17 per cent of women in the world were represented in the news. In 2005 it was 21 per cent, asmall figure but significant in that there was a rise at all. The overall goal of the GMMP is tochange the ingrained patterns of gender representation in the news.The Gender and Media Baseline Study (GMBS), undertaken in 2003 by Genderlinks and theMedia Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), has been heavily reinforced by the latest findingsof the GMMP with regards to Africa.The GMBS focused on 12 Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries. Inone month (September 2003) the study found that ‘equality of opportunity’ was still far frombeing translated into ‘equality of outcomes’ between men and women in the region. This ismore so in the newsrooms. After a period of two years, the 2005 GMMP has delivered similarresults. The confirmation that there has been only a slight change needs to be noted. Markedly,this change seems to be in the increased number of female reporters rather than female editorswho are more empowered to influence the news.According to the GMBS study: “The media has more often than not been part of the problemrather than the solution.” Many believe that on the Beijing Platform for Action, media shouldhave been among the first five areas of concern instead of being listed number 10. Fifteen yearsafter the Beijing World Conference for Women, media houses in the SADC region and the restof the world are still struggling to balance their newsrooms on gender lines. With the mediapurporting to be the vanguard of democracy, there is a need to see realistic fruits emergingfrom the countless workshops held on gender in the media.The problem of gender representation in the news and newsrooms will not go away if it isignored. It needs capable editors to demonstrate that development relies on each individual’scontribution, including that of women. Ignoring their role in society can only lead to furtherSo This Is Democracy? 2005-20-Media Institute of Southern Africa