Representation of black, young, women politicians in South African online news media : a case study of Lindiwe Mazibuko

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: One of the main areas of transformation that continues to be a priority in the 21st century inSouth African and all other democratic societies is equality between men and women. Themedia plays an important role in attaining the desired balance in the way it represents bothgenders. This study analysed the representation of South Africa's main opposition party's(Democratic Alliance) parliamentary leaders, Lindiwe Mazibuko, in the online print media inSouth Africa. Articles on Mazibuko from four leading news websites were analysed duringthe period in which her nomination to the position of parliamentary leader was announced,the run up to the party's elections, her election to the position and a month into her election.Not all persons suffered equally under the Apartheid regime therefore the empowerment ofblack women and their rise to positions of leadership and power remains an important priorityif the gains of freedom are to be completely attained. Therefore every hindrance that wouldhamper their efforts should be addressed. The way the media represents not only women ingeneral, but black women in particular is an important area of focus. Moreover, coverage ofthese women when they are in power and how they are portrayed to be handling thesepositions is critical.The paper approaches the representation of black, women politicians in the South Africanmedia from a womanist approach which goes beyond feminist assertions, from the masscommunications theory, gender and media and the political economy theories. Using thequantitative research method of content analysis, 101 articles published on Timeslive, CityPress Online, Mail & Guardian Online and Independent Online websites between 1September 2011 and 30 November 2011 were analysed.The findings revealed that Mazibuko's age was mentioned in 62% of the articles, her genderin 28% of the articles and her race in 21%. This means that more than her race and gender,her age was the main area of focus for the majority of the news articles. The conclusion ofthis study questions the focus of these attributes that have no influence on her performance orability to do her work and what it means to the progression of media representation of notonly black women political leaders, but aspiring young, black, women political leaders.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University