Cameroon: Women don`t make the front page, except in pictures

Treating women in a cruel and unfair way and not giving them the same freedom, rights, spaces as other people representation in the media in Cameroon under the current regime is just appalling and disastrous and discriminating.

Women are still sidelined and stereotyped on the front page of Britain`s newspapers, according to research published by Women in Journalism (WiJ). The results of the research and figures can be also be extrapolated to Cameroon.

Male dominated journalists wrote 78% of all front-page articles and  men accounted for 84% of those mentioned or quoted in them, according to WiJ`s analysis of nine national papers over four weeks earlier this year.

Predictable as the general results may seem, the research did produce some surprises, with the worst gender ratios on what many would consider the most progressive papers.

The most male-dominated title was the Independent, with 91% of its 70 front-page articles written by men. At the Telegraph the proportion was 89%, at The Times 82% and 78% at The Guardian.

But the Express had a 50/50 share and at the best quality paper, the Financial Times, the figure was 66%. Across all the titles, of people named in lead articles, 84% of those quoted or mentioned were men, most in a professional capacity. 

The 16% of women were disproportionately likely to be quoted as celebrities, or as victims.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there were higher proportions of photos of women-though most were celebrities.

 The  results of the study published by the Journal of the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, found not a single female politician or leader in the top 10 images used during the month in question.

And where powerful women were featured, the images were often unflattering. The were few pictures in which women looked powerful and serious.Francoise Foning, Mayor for Duala 5, Prof Asheri Kilo Vivian and the government minister Muna Tutu have featured in some rare front page.

 The same research can be used for Le Messager, The Herald, La Nouvelle Expression, Cameroon Tribune, Dikalo, The Nation, Le Jour, Mutations, Reperes, L`Action, Le Patriote, Germinal, L`Oeil du Sahel, Aurore Plus, The Messenger, L`Anecdote, Le Proces International,

 Le Nouvel Independant, L`Independant, La Nouvelle Afrique and many more strong male dominated titles where the image of the first lady Chantal Biya can be featured and appeared as the main picture many times during a certain period of time.

 Female government ministers are sometimes featured only when on usual government business with images of them in some unfortunnate face.

Prof Asheri Kilo Vivian and Ama Tutu Muna have never kept the front page of many publication and this is a kind of discrimination compare to their male colleagues.