Zeera still remembers the first time she heard her voice on the radio. It was just a short segment, a trial run in a studio tucked away in a busy part of the city, but to her, it felt like everything she had ever dreamed of was finally here. As a child, she would sit close to the old family radio, mimicking presenters, practicing how to pause between sentences, and how to smile through her voice. She believed radio was more than sound. It was connection, it was power, it was her way to be heard.
Getting the job opportunity at the station was a dream come true. She arrived early every day, eager and careful, taking notes, taking up extra tasks, staying back after her shift ended just to learn. She got used to working twice as hard to prove she belonged.
Then came the attention she had not asked for.
At first, it was subtle. Lingering comments about her voice, her appearance, her “potential.” She brushed them aside, telling herself this was just part of the environment. But the tone changed. The requests became more personal, more direct. Invitations she could not mistake. “He tried to kiss me in his office on multiple occasions. He groped me, making comments about my breasts,” she narrated.
Her boss, the General Manager, a man whose approval could shape her career, began to make it clear that her growth at the station depended on more than her talent.
Zeera hesitated. She thought about the years she had spent dreaming of this moment, the sacrifices her family had made, the quiet pride in her mother’s voice when she spoke about her daughter working in the media. She also thought about herself, about what it would mean to say yes, and what it would cost her to say no. She chose to say no. The shift was immediate.
Her name stopped appearing on schedules. Tasks she once handled were reassigned without explanation. The same space that once felt like possibility began to feel heavy, unfamiliar.
She narrated in between sobs, “I went from leading significant programs to being assigned work that didn’t align with my skills or experience, and nothing I did made sense anymore.”
When she tried to ask questions, her complaint was dismissed, and she did not receive the level of intervention she expected, or at least, a serious response. At that point, it was clear that there was no support system in place to address the situation, so she decided to make the decision she dreaded. She left.
“I eventually resigned. Staying would have meant continuing in an environment where my work was undermined and my concerns not taken seriously,” she tearfully added.
Zeera went home with more than the loss of a job. She carried the weight of a dream interrupted, the confusion of being punished for drawing a line, and the silence that often follows experiences no one wants to acknowledge. For a long time, she could not bring herself to turn on the radio. Neither has her own voice been heard on the radio, ever since.
“Look into my eyes and tell me you want to get down on me,” another female journalist, Ose, thought her boss was reading out a script. Imagine her shock when she realised he was actually referring to her.
Before then, he had made sexual remarks that didn’t sit well with her, and despite calling it out, the boss wouldn’t yield. But that wasn’t the end. A simple, courteous hug with another male colleague graduated into a bum massage that wasn’t requested nor consented to. Ose had worked in the media and communications sector for a few years, and her experience with workplace sexual harassment is extensive. Yet, it is just one out of many stories.
These stories are not isolated. They sit within a larger pattern, one that continues to shape the experiences of many women in the media industry. Behind the voices we hear, the words we read, and the faces we see are stories like hers, often unheard, often unresolved, but deeply tied to the question of who gets to belong and at what cost.
Gender disparity in Nigeria’s media industry remains a persistent issue, shaping not only who tells stories but also when and how they are told. Understanding this gap is key to addressing how media narratives are formed and whose voices are amplified.
The Extent of Gender Disparity in Media Leadership and Reporting
Data from newsroom studies in Nigeria reveal a clear imbalance between male and female participation. In many media organisations, men dominate editorial and leadership roles. One study found that 79% of newsroom staff are men, compared to 21% women. This imbalance becomes even more pronounced at senior levels, where decision-making authority is concentrated.
A 2024 report on newsroom leadership by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism further highlights this gap, showing that women’s representation in leadership positions in print and online media is as low as 4.6% and 5.5%, respectively. According to the report, which focuses on women’s representation in newsrooms and news leadership in Nigeria, women accounted for 25.7 per cent of leadership positions, while men dominated with 74.3 per cent from a survey of 111 media organisations in Nigeria. These figures point to a structural issue where women are present in the industry but remain underrepresented in positions that shape editorial direction.
In reporting, the disparity also reflects in whose voices are heard. According to findings from the Global Media Monitoring Project, only 16% of news subjects in political and government stories in Nigeria are women, compared to 84% men. This suggests that even when women are part of the newsroom, the stories being told still lean heavily toward male perspectives.
Visibility Versus Influence
Women in Nigerian media are often highly visible, especially as television presenters, field reporters, and anchors. However, visibility does not always equate to influence. Studies suggest that women are frequently “seen but not heard,” meaning they appear on screen but have limited control over editorial decisions or newsroom priorities.
This gap between visibility and influence creates a situation where women contribute to content production without necessarily shaping the narrative. Editorial meetings, policy decisions, and leadership roles often remain male-dominated, reinforcing existing power structures.
The result is a layered disparity. On the surface, representation appears balanced because women are present in public-facing roles. Beneath that, decision-making spaces tell a different story, where men continue to set the agenda.
Impact on Media Content and Representation
This imbalance in the newsroom has a direct impact on the type of content produced. When decision-making spaces lack diversity, coverage tends to reflect a narrow range of perspectives. It affects
public perception. Media plays a key role in shaping societal norms, and limited representation can reinforce existing inequalities. When women’s voices are absent or marginalised, it becomes harder to challenge stereotypes or highlight issues that disproportionately affect them.
At the same time, inclusive representation can have the opposite effect. When women are given space to tell their stories and shape narratives, media content becomes more reflective of society as a whole.
Challenges Faced by Female Journalists
Research has shown that female journalists in Nigeria face a range of challenges that affect both their career progression and daily work. One of the most reported issues is workplace harassment, including gender-based discrimination and the struggle to balance biological and work expectations. Career progression is another major concern. The concept of a “glass ceiling” is often used to describe how women struggle to move beyond mid-level roles despite having similar qualifications as their male counterparts. Studies on Nigerian digital newsrooms highlight how gender bias influences hiring, promotion, and assignment of key roles.
Speaking with Open African Tribune, a Nigerian journalist, Esther Alaribe noted that the issues go beyond statistics or number of women in the media, it also speaks to if they have a work environment that allows them to work and deliver efficiently.
She said, “It is also evident in pay gaps—women have been stereotyped to be the ones who don’t have so many responsibilities, so what would they need high wages for? Most male editors would not approve serious and ideological story pitches from female journalists, but can easily assign them stereotyped beats like lifestyle, fashion, and entertainment.”
Esther also noted that female journalists often face limited decision-making power. Even when they hold editorial titles, their authority may be constrained by organisational culture or hierarchy. This can affect the type of stories they pitch, how stories are framed, and whose voices are prioritised.
Beyond the newsroom, online harassment has become a growing concern. Female journalists are more likely to experience targeted attacks, especially when covering politics, gender issues, or social justice topics. This can lead to self-censorship or withdrawal from public discourse.
In a conversation with the Publisher, BONews service, Blessing Oladunjoye, she acknowledged the reality that, truly, bias exists in the operations of most newsrooms, as reports have proven how workplace and sexual harassment have led to the reduction of women in the media.
“If you look at the number of students studying journalism and other related communication courses, you would see that there are more female students than male but this is not the reality in the professional media industry. As the ladder goes up, it further reduces.
Another noteworthy challenge is the absence of an inclusive work structure and environment. Most female journalists are also in the parenting business. Understanding how much motherhood demands from women, newsrooms lack inclusive infrastructures that can make work easier for journalists who are also mothers, and more attention is paid to their economically productive labour while nobody really cares about their reproductive labour, making work-life balance difficult,” she concluded.
Efforts to Address Gender Inequality
Despite these challenges, there are ongoing efforts to address gender disparity in Nigeria’s media landscape. Advocacy groups, civil society organisations, and media development programmes are working to promote gender equality through training, policy reform, and awareness campaigns.
African Women in Media (AWiM) prides itself as “a lighthouse and a platform where women in media can inspire, support, and empower each other.”
The non-governmental organisation claims to contribute to the creation of enabling environments for African women who work in media industries, and to change the way African women are represented in media content. It does this through research, advocacy, and partnerships that positively impact the way media functions in relation to African women.
A notable feature on the AWiM website is the SourceHer product, which allows women journalists to have access to other women who are experts in various fields and can contribute to their work.
Initiatives focused on gender-sensitive reporting aim to improve how women are represented in news content. These programmes encourage journalists to move beyond stereotypes and include more diverse voices in their reporting.
The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) promotes gender-sensitive reporting in West Africa through its Media in Gender project (est. 2021), focusing on training journalists, producing ethical reports on gender-based violence (GBV), and enhancing women’s inclusion in newsrooms. They provide resources like the GBV Reporting Handbook to help journalists avoid stereotypes, protect survivors, and challenge harmful cultural norms.
Publisher, Naija Feminist Media, Simbiat Bakare, in a conversation said that the outlet was founded totally to address the gender imbalance in the media, give platform to female journalists and to bring issues affecting women to the fore.
According to her, the organisation operates a complete female community, from the publisher to the editor, designers and reporters— all women.
“NFM exclusively reports women’s stories, and all members of our staff are women. Workplace and sexual harassment are absent. The organisation is well structured to deliver a decent work-life balance as every member of staff works remotely, giving them time to do other things.”
There are also efforts to support female journalists through mentorship, leadership training, and networking opportunities. Such initiatives seek to bridge the gap between visibility and influence by preparing women for leadership roles.
The Reportwomen! The Female Reporters’ Leadership Programme (FRLP) is aimed at empowering female reporters with the skills, finesse, support, and tools to take bold steps that help position them for the highest leadership roles in their media houses.
The programme, an initiative of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, supported by Free Press Unlimited, commenced in June 2017. According to the organisation, it intends to contribute to the mobilisation of a network of female reporters oriented for leadership, who can mainstream gender in news reports.
“The FRLP is a build-up on the Report Women programme of the WSCIJ, which was designed to focus on major issues of access and abuse as they affect girls and women in Nigeria and implemented in collaboration with the Royal Netherlands Embassy.
Success stories or wasted efforts…
Media-focused advocacy campaigns, including those using radio and digital platforms, have also been used to challenge gender norms and address issues like harassment and discrimination. Research shows that these campaigns can influence perceptions and contribute to gradual behavioural change.
Bakare noted that through the NFM initiative, more women are now confident to practise in the media without fear of harassment, bias, or stereotypes, adding that the work environment is safe and provides a sense of community for young women who are trying to find their feet in the industry.
Through the Report Women project, which commenced in 2014, WSCIJ has trained over eighty reporters across the country and commissioned thirty-one stories to improve the quantity and quality of reportage of girls’ and women’s issues in Nigeria, as well as establishing Initiatives like the Gender-sensitive reporting trainings by Women Radio (WFM) and the Centre for Journalism
Conclusion
Gender disparity in the Nigerian media landscape is not just about numbers; it is about who holds power, whose voices are amplified, and how stories are framed. While women continue to make visible contributions as reporters and presenters, their limited presence in leadership positions reveals a deeper imbalance. Addressing this gap requires more than representation. It calls for structural change within media institutions, sustained advocacy, and a commitment to inclusive storytelling. Until women are equally represented both on screen and behind the scenes, the media will continue to reflect only part of the society it seeks to serve.
