TITLE:
Investigating Roles and Assignments in Media Practice in Cameroon: A Gender-Based Approach
AUTHORS:
Emilien E. Matole, Kingsley L. Ngange, Martin E.-M. Elonge
KEYWORDS:
Media, Gender Balance, Stereotypes, Roles, Assignments, Cameroon
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Journalism and Communication,
Vol.12 No.2,
June
27,
2024
ABSTRACT: The media, known as the fourth power of a democratic society, continues to be instrumental in defining what we think about and how we look at issues in society. By implication, the role and content of the media play a decisive part in reinforcing gender stereotypes and setting agendas for public opinion through selective themes and views. This study investigates how the media in Cameroon uses its power to perpetuate gender stereotype norms. It examines the types of roles and assignments that women and men handle in the media defined by their gender, irrespective of professionalism, productivity, skills, and competence. The main research question is: to what extent are media roles and assignments constructed along gender lines? The study employed the quantitative research approach with a survey method. Data was collected from 81 media practitioners in Fako Division, South West Region of Cameroon, purposively selected from 35 media houses, with a response rate of 79.4%. The findings reveal that majority of female media practitioners are assigned the role of “Presenters” (76.6%) and “Reporters” (70.3%) over other functions. Female are tasked to “soft news” as opposed to their male counterparts who handle “hard news”. Discriminative practices (t (80) = −8.61, P = .000) and traditional gender stereotypes (t (80) = 13.49, P = .000) were found to significantly influence role attributions in the media. It is evident that the editorial policy (with 43.2% respondents agreeing as opposed to 17.3%) has great influence on roles and assignment distribution in media practice. The findings confirm the Agenda Setting theory of the media in that the media reflects society by reinforcing gender stereotypes with the types of roles and assignments distributed in media organs. Evidence from the Radical Feminist Perspective shows that women are the more oppressed gender. Despite the suggestions of respondents on gender bias, the media is caught between presenting equity, and not distorting cultural norms. Principally, the study recommends that the media should practically mainstream gender in media practice at all levels; more women should feature on hard news for instance. This is vital because the welfare of the world will be limited if the condition of women is not improved upon. The study, therefore, affirms that equity is a strong hold for sustainable development.