Representation of Gender and gender Relations in Newspapers Narratives: the case of Ethiopia.

Abstract

This research presents a qualitative study of Addis Admass (private) and Addis Zemen (state) newspapers from a social constructionist perspective. It asks the questions: How are gender and gender relations represented in the selected newspapers?, How do the selected items depict female and male social actors?, What needs for change regarding gender are represented? What new society do they imagine?, and What narrative strategies do the newspapers use? In addition to performing a detailed qualitative analysis of newspaper articles, the study includes a quantitative overview of topics addressed by the two newspapers according to gender, and over the number of female and male journalists. The study contextualizes the media development in Ethiopia in a historical perspective. The findings show that there are areas of change in gender relations advocated by the newspapers in both the private and public sphere. At the same time, the newspapers seem to duplicate the stereotypes and support the statues quo regarding gender and gender relations. Literature reviews show that the same tendencies prevail since I finished my data collection in 2000. Therefore, I contend that newspapers play a dual role, on the one hand, enhancing change and change factors and on the other hand, supporting the status quo.