Mass Media in Tanzania Promote Family Planning as an Economic Agenda

Advocacy Case Study

In December 2011, six media houses declared their firm support to family planning efforts. The committed from a predominantly private media houses is significant in terms of strengthening and expanding coverage of family planning issues as part of promoting policy dialogue and public education on the issues. The media houses namely;- Mwananchi Communications Ltd, New Habari (2006) Ltd., Tanzania Standard Newspapers and the Guardian Limited in print media while in electronic media were Sahara Communications Limited and Tanzania Broadcasting. Those are among the major media houses in the country with broad geographical reach, broad readership and listenership countrywide. All the six media houses committed to allocate space and air time as well to appoint two journalists in each institution to be focal persons for FP news coverage.

Background – Engaging the Media, an opportunity for sustaining advocacy

Historically, Tanzania’s mass media have been integral in promoting development through public education, leadership sensitization and mass mobilization. The mass media, especially radio and television has been the main source of information including that on family planning.[1] The DHS has shown that about 50% of women and 61% of men in the reproductive age (15-49) get family planning information and messages from radio, while television is the source of this kind of information to 19% women and 32% men. Media’s role in disseminating family planning information offers a great opportunity to engage leaders and the public in general in dialogue on pertinent issues around family planning services. These may range from access to contraceptives, method choice, and resources for improved family planning, to policy issues critical in creating enabling environment for service delivery. Therefore as agents of change, mass media’s participation in strengthening family planning advocacy is critical in Tanzania’s setting, and their contribution is undoubtedly invaluable. The fact that 95% of media houses are privately-owned makes their commitment to the family planning agenda a remarkable gesture that ought to be acknowledged.

The Strategy – Working with media structures to move the FP agenda

The Approach

The Association of Journalists Against AIDS in Tanzania (AJAAT) is one of the implementing partners of the Advance Family Planning (AFP) project in Tanzania that works with a number of local NGOs that formed the FP Coalition in November 2010. AFP’s lead partner – the Human Development Trust (HDT) coordinates the coalition with 11 member organisations including AJAAT. Using the Spitfire approach, AJAAT identified key media houses that are likely to support family planning, conducted a rapid assessment of media houses’ interest in FP issues, developed a policy brief on the significance of supporting these issues and shared results as part of soliciting media support to FP.

Key Activities: Soliciting Media Commitment to FP

The Association of Journalists Against AIDS in Tanzania (AJAAT) is one of the implementing partners of Advance Family Planning (AFP) Project in Tanzania. Between July and December 2011, AJAAT conducted four activities namely; an Assessment of Media House’s Interest in Supporting Family Planning Services in Tanzania, One – to- One Meeting with Managers from selected six national Media Houses and then disseminated and share findings of the report and finally a one day orientation workshop with media editors through the Editors’ Forum concerning family planning coverage and status in Tanzania.

A.     RAPID MEDIA ASSESSMENT FOR MEDIA HOUSES’ INTERESTED IN SUPPORTING FP

The assessment, explores the private sector playing its role in the provision of social services as outline in the Public Private Partnership Act, 2010 and the implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility policies. The rapid assessment main objective intended to set up the following; 

1. Gather information from media on the family planning coverage status; 

2. Capacity, interest and commitment from the media; and lastly

3. Challenges on family planning issues from the media.

The assessment was conducted using standard structured questionnaires with both closed-ended and open-ended questions to collect the desired information from respondents. The questionnaires were distributed to respondents to respond the questions privately and freely. Respondents were purposely selected; Media managers’ who hold positions of considerable influence in decision making were targeted.

B.     ONE – TO – ONE MEETINGS WITH MANAGERS OF THE SURVEYED MEDIA HOUSES

AJAAT started the process by preparing a policy brief, which pointed out the importance of family planning to support social and economical development in Tanzania. The aim was to enlighten the media houses on the importance of family planning advocacy.

One AJAAT staff visited one of the media houses to discuss how there media will support AFP partners in family planning advocacy, where awareness message in the policy brief were circulated. The media houses visited were; Sahara Corporation (Star Tv) and Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) in the electronic media. In the print media were Swahili and English dailies newspapers from New Habari (2006) Ltd,. (Mtanzania and The African); Mwananchi

Communications (Mwananchi and The Citizen), The Guardian Ltd,. (Nipashe and The Guardian) and the Tanzania Standard Newspapers (The Daily News and Habarileo). All 12 media managers respond positively to support family planning coverage by providing space and air time. They also agreed to give priority in family planning news and features in their daily coverage’s.

C.      WORKSHOP ON SHARING MEDIA HOUSES ASSESSMENT REPORT

AJAAT organized a one day Media Meeting to disseminate the assessment report by inviting managers from the media surveyed; Sahara Corporation, Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC), New Habari (2006) Ltd,. Mwananchi Communications, The Guardian Ltd, and Tanzania Standard Newspapers.

D.     EDITOR’S FORUM ORIENTATION WORKSHOP ON FAMILY PLANNING

The Editors started arriving at the Lion Hotel, Sinza and 38 participants’ attendant the workshop, 30 were editors and senior journalists with four facilitators. Zacharia Ssebuyoya, ANAT programme coordinator was invited as amoung AFP lead implementing partner while Dr. Hellen Mrina from Medical Women of Tanzania Association (MEWATA) and Dr. Namala Mkopi from Paediatric Association of Tanzania (PAT) were two medical experts facilitate the workshop who come from AFP coalition.

The Workshops Outcome

1.       Media Managers and Editors react on the facts that because planning a family and deciding on the number of children and spacing impacts on individual economic situation; for those with more children, they endure greater burden in sustaining their families.

2.       At government level – it is critical for governments to plan well to meet the education, health and other needs of its population. The government doesn’t have sufficient resources for a growing population well equipped to fuel the economic engine.

3.      That the percentage of the labour forces in the population and how does this play out with dependency ratio? Governments see individuals as economic units – consume and produce – how big is this labour force and whether it is capable of promoting economic development.

4.      In the media, FP is almost a non-issue/agenda both as an issue for coverage, and for programming in media institutions. Media houses do not have family planning services and media managers have not seriously thought about this.

5.      The gender ratio in the media – fewer women than men; and the employers’ bias towards pregnant employees and those caring for children (seen sometimes as an opportunity loss – viewed as not as hardworking as male colleagues); FP as an issue of individual right – the media has a role in promoting the concept.

6.      Getting an interesting angle for FP issues – remains a challenge. The impacts on the narrow or inadequate coverage of FP issues.

7.      Media campaigns are critical in strengthening visibility of FP issues.

8.      Deteriorating mothers’ health due to frequent childbirth leads to declining family welfare and national economic growth.

9.      Big families – big money – secure future! Such attitudes and beliefs contribute to communities shying away from the use of contraceptives.

10.   The media managers’ request on the AFP coalition on-line internet hub as family planning archive to gather easy information’s and updated report concerning family planning status in Tanzania as well as the global ones.

Lessons Learnt and Next Steps

Why is FP not an agenda in the media when its contribution to reduction of maternal mortality rate and infant mortality rate is known?

It was highlighted that the media history – for many years media practitioners’ understanding on FP/RH and population issues has been skewed towards seeing these issues as externally-driven with foreign interests “harmful” to Tanzanians; the exception of the foreign actors wanting to exploit us and media structure – big names make news – as a guiding principle.

Media Assessment report Key findings;-

1. Workplace perceptions, policy implications and actions of the Media Houses on the subject.

Ø      None had guidelines for family planning in the workplace;

Ø      Only one Media House 7% – Mwananchi Communication - had a plan develop one or include family planning in existing policies.

Ø      Three Media Houses 21% – TBC, Mwananchi Communication, and Tanzania Standard Newspapers - consider family planning;

Ø      All of the rest 79% did not have policies considering family planning;

Ø      One 7% was not sure about the answer;

Ø      There was no particular type of contraceptives prescribed regarding family planning in workplace

2. Areas of interventions

1. Conduct media campaigns for family planning to increase awareness and expand networks of family planning stakeholders engaging the Media in family planning;

2. Media people have indicated their need for support from experts on family planning so they can work with them and collaborate with decision makers in order to properly align policies and practices.

WHAT SHOULD BE DONE?

Editors’ recommend that:-

Ø  Media should sensitize the society to see FP as an opportunity. (Packing the messages).

Ø   Increase FP coverage (make it an economic agenda).

Ø  Empower journalists with FP knowledge.

Ø  Experts in FP needed to be more accessible to journalists.

Ø  Harmonize information (operation system in media). – News story – Information for public knowledge.

Ø  Frequent survey should be done on the use of nets and its preventive ability.

Ø  Editors’ Forum should select a topic for discussion on AFP with view to building knowledge on these issues.

Ø  Editors from media outside the surveyed asked to be presented in the campaign and promise to provide space and air time for family planning coverage in the media.

Acknowledgements

Six media houses managers from the surveyed media houses as well as the editors through the Tanzania Editors Forum.

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[1] Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey 2010