A few months ago New York billionaire Donald Trump was asked on the Oprah Winfrey show whether women should use sex appeal to get what they want in the boardroom. After several attempts at ducking the issue, he finally admitted that it helps. Trump’s confession fits with a recent editorial in the local Cosmopolitan, blatantly encouraging women to use their assets to get what they want from men in powerful positions. And take this sobering comment from 22-year Mpume Mokoena, a junior reporter at P4 Radio KwaZulu-Natal: “I would do anything to be on the screen. While in journalism school, all of us were made to aspire to become celebrities. Naïve little girls like us are easily influenced to do anything to get our few minutes of fame.”
This “use of natural assets” to get ahead may be a global phenomenon, but, as the above quote suggests, there are some more than worrying trends in the South African broadcast arena. The question is: does sex appeal play too big a role here?
The fleeting careers of some of the female faces that have graced South Africa’s television screens should ring alarm bells. Remember Nadia Levin? That’s the bubbly redhead that presented the prime-time English news on SABC 3 just a few years ago. What about Vanashree Govendor? She was the face of business news on e.tv not so long ago. Does Sally Burdett ring a bell? The list of women with a few minutes of TV news fame to their credit just goes on and on.
On the face of it, the high turnover of female TV presenters in South Africa does not appear to be an international trend. At CNN, for instance, Christiane Amanpour, Becky Anderson and the once dull and boring Rosemary Church have become mainstays. Others being eased into the job and groomed for long-term careers are Zain Verjee, South Africa’s own Tumi Makgabo and Nigerian-born weathergirl Femi Oke.
So what’s happening in the local space? Maybe the case of Redi Direko, who recently quit SABC television for a job as a government spin doctor, can help put things in perspective. What drew attention to Direko was her infamous faux pas during an interview with President Thabo Mbeki. All of a sudden there were questions about whether a 26-year-old should be interviewing the president on national television.
Although Direko believes that her interview with the president had more positive than negative consequences – “being in broadcasting has presented fresh opportunities for me,” she says – her example throws the broader issue into focus: local broadcasters may be too quick to place women in front line positions without the proper training and support.
Of course, as in every other situation, there are winners and losers. A clear winner in local television news is Debora Patta, who despite a perceived aggressive demeanor on camera has managed to maintain and strengthen her position. One wonders whether this has something to do with the association between aggression and masculinity, but in her favour, Patta has not presented herself as “another pretty face”. She is an experienced working journalist sitting in the upper echelons of e.tv news management.
“Women who stay, manage because they’re credible,” says Patta. “They’re experienced and therefore considered heavyweights. Of course, television is an aesthetic medium, so broadcasters are looking for a combination of looks and substance.
“I’ve always maintained that I am first and foremost a journalist. I’ve always wanted to be a journalist. I’m equally able to cover the story and present it, and that’s been critical to my success. I think I’m a package that’s attractive to e.tv; I’m an intelligent woman who can think on her feet. I can ask critical questions and I can do the work.”
Unsurprisingly, women in radio aren’t spared the challenges faced by their TV counterparts. Although in the past women were generally confined to the radio newsreader’s role, and today are taking their places as DJs, programme managers and news editors, that’s not the end of the matter. Says Ncumisa Fandesi, news editor at P4 Radio KwaZulu-Natal: “Ability and competence normally come last. I mean, I got my position by chance. It’s not as if there were twenty other people vying for this job. There are too many men in positions of power, a man would generally not take a woman who is going to give them hell at every turn.
“There are women who definitely use sex appeal to get ahead in this industry,” Fandesi continues. “For the bosses it is about the publicity that one generates for the station, whether the behaviour is good or bad is really not the issue.”
And consider the case of Kgomotso “KG” Moeketsi, the woman in the “hot seat” when Kaya FM was the first South African radio station to experiment with the idea of a female breakfast show host. The fanfair that welcomed Moeketsi ended in unpleasant exchanges in Sunday gossip papers. Was her sex appeal not enough to have her holding onto the coveted title of breakfast show host?
“Because I don’t look like [Metro DJ] Azania, the print media did not give me a chance,” Moeketsi says. “The issue is also that if you do not work for the national broadcaster, the print media does not find you appealing enough to give you national coverage. The truth is that there are a lot of women who get into the industry because of their looks and I just did not have the sexy hips.”
In the final analysis, the sisters finally seem to be getting into positions of authority in television and radio. What seems to be lacking is their ability to form networks and support structures that offer solutions to their challenges. Female broadcasters would be well advised to consider the cold facts from the South African Women in Corporate Leadership Census 2004. The study focused on listed companies and state-owned entities. It found that women constitute only 14.7% of all executive managers. Of the 3,125 directorship positions available, women hold only 221. Only 11 women hold chairs of boards out of a total of 364. There are only 7 female CEOs and MDs, compared to 357 males. As Moeketsi puts it: “The problem is that the real decision makers are mostly men. The station managers, directors and shareholders are predominantly male and all of them are easily enticed by these young little things that are pretty and have beautiful hips.”
So sex appeal and looks aside, it seems that unless there is a collective will on the part of women in the broadcast media to advance their cause, their roles in front of the camera and behind the mike are likely to remain easily disposable for many years to come.
Benedicta Dube is the former deputy editor of business news at e.tv and was the founding editor for P4 Radio, KZN. She’s currently a freelance business journalist and a broadcast journalism trainer working with NEMISA, the NCRF and ABC Ulwazi. She was a member of the Mondi Magazine Awards judging panel for 2004.