Health Information and Social Inclusion of Women During COVID-19: Exploring Botswana Television’s Functionalist Communication Strategy

Abstract

This paper explored the role of Botswana television in harnessing the right to health information and social inclusion of women during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researcher sampled 36 episodes (n=36) between March and June 2020 from the Botswana television Facebook page and employed content analysis to examine comments, reactions, viewership patterns, and gender disparities during programming. The program recorded over one million views from its audience, attracting many reactions and comments. However, there was a ratio of 74.5% for males against 25.5% for female representation, which was lower than the half margin of all the guests in the program. Furthermore, the study found that indeed Facebook boosted television viewership and audience engagement, although women’s issues were not satisfactorily addressed by the program, both dedicated to gender equality during the pandemic and crafting topics that discussed the vulnerability of women.