A Situational Analysis of Gender Inequality in Journalism Practice in Nigeria - Journals
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American Journal of Humanities and Social Science (AJHSS) Volume 9, 2021
A Situational Analysis of Gender Inequality in Journalism Practice
in Nigeria
Oghogho Uyi OSAZEE-ODIA, PhD1, Catherine Isioma NWOKORO1
1
Department of Mass Communication, Wellspring University, Nigeria
Abstract
This study examines gender inequality in journalism practice in Nigeria with a view to find out the
patterns of gender inequality in journalism practice and three research questions were set up as
exploration into the issue and anchored on the Gender Role theory. A survey was administered to a
sample of 319 editorial staff of selected media organisations in Delta State, Nigeria using convenience
sampling procedure. A self-completion questionnaire was administered to sampled staff through face-to-
face contact. The findings indicated the existence of gender inequality in media organisations and
women journalsits were the most culprit of inequality in journalism practice and gender discrimination
in terms of recruitment process. Further findings indicate the societal or patriarchal predispositions as a
factor of preference for male graduate journalists over female graduates. Moreover, gender
discrimination was apparent in leadership positions and decision making in news media and glass ceiling
as critical indicatorsof limitation. The study recommended measures to address gender discrimination
with women as a direct focus for insitutional actions and stakeholders in journalism sector to inspire
young generations ofgraduates in mass commnunication to take-on journalism as a career and also to
confront all forms of discrimination against women during recruitments and advancement in the media
profession.
Keywords: Gender Inequality, Gender Discrimination, Journalism Practice, Nigerian
Nigerian Media Regulatory Institutions
Introduction
Gender inequality is becoming an issue of social concern for scholars and researchers worldwide serving
as a measure ofgender-based differences in accessibility to resources, role stratifcation in human society.
The concept of gender-based differences connotes men and women dichotomy in needsstratification and
patterns of access in all forms of social services, such as education, health, economic opportunity and
political empowerment. Gender inequality as a concept provides measures of determining gender gap in
relations to resource allocations between men and women in society, organisations and working
environment (Gay, Lewis and Danner; 1994, He,Kang and Lacetera, 2020).
This study asked whether there is existence of gender inequality in journalism practice in Nigeria media
profession as well as examines the factors that influence journalism practice. The words journalism
practice refers to the act of gathering, processing and writing stories for public consumption through
newspapers, radio and television.Webster third International Dictionary defines journalism practice as
the collection and editing of materials of current interest for presentation, publication or broadcast and it
also means the investigation and reporting of events, occurrences, issues and happenings in the society
36American Journal of Humanities and Social Science (AJHSS) Volume 9, 2021
to a large audience. Hodgins (2004) regardsjournalism practice as the conveying of information from
here to there with accuracy, insight and dispatch and such a manner that the truth is served and the
rightness of things is made slowly, even if not immediately, more evident by the journalist. Furthermore,
Breit (2004) sees journalism as a practice in which co-operative human activities are involved usually in
terms of how it is done, the effects it has on society and its fundamental purposes noting that various
technical skills are frequently performed by different individuals in the production of news, information
and stories. (Dates, 2006).The term differentindividuals are those in the service of journalism and are
journalistswith education and training as strategic for entering into the journalism profession. For further
clarification, journalists imply those whoare involved in the production of news contents for a media
organization and working in different capacity such as editorial roles including reporters, feature writers,
photographers, editors, news directors, bureau chiefs, section editors, online editors, sub-editors (or copy
editors), presenters, producers, television news anchors, columnists among others (North, 2014; Zarynl,
2018).
For Nigeria, journalsits are at the heart of journalism practice and this goes back to December,3, 1859,
the first newspaper,IweIrohin the first newspaper journalism and progression spanning over one hundred
and sixty years (Deuze, 2014; Nwanne, 2016). The Nigeria journalism practice cuts a mix of public and
private ownership of media organisations or media outfits with responsibilities for covering news events
and reporting in line with public interest value and obligations(Ojomo and Ajilore, 2012; Okafor and
Malizu, 2013; Oberiri, 2016).The emergence of new media of internet and social media provide
expanded opportunities for journalsits and the enhancement of journalism practice. (Obalanlege,2015;
Obijiofor, Murray and Singh, 2016).
Available documentation indicates that the number of radio stations nationwide is two hundred, sixty
five (265) made up of public-funded stations and private commercial stations; one hundred and four
stations (104) comprising of public-funded and private commercial stations and ninety five 95) online
newspapers and fifty one (51) offline publications (Oxford Business Group, 2017). These media outlets
provide opportunities for employment to Nigerians and as practicing journalists in various sectors of
media organisations (International Labour Organization, 2014). The gender connection in journalism
profession began with men following the emergence of newspsper in 1859 and women in the 1950s.As
Njoku, Dike and Vincent (2018) writes, male journalists were more pronounced compared to their
female counterparts. In the same vein, Mandy and Jawad (2018) point to women’s marginalizationin
Nigeria’s media landscape. Accroding to the authors, men have been dominantly stronger in the
mainstream media and that the portrayal of women is on the negative side in terms of trivialisation or
sexualisation.
Thus, we argue here that Nigeria journalists and journalistic practice was gender-driven with men and
women have different demographic attributes in journalism practice.Evidences from the work of
scholars pointto the relation of gender-journalsim practice citingEnwefah (2018) noted that male
dominationin editorial and reportorial levels in the newspapers organisations (Jeremiah, 2013;Sanu,
andAdelabu, 2015).
This analysis invokes the concept of status differences between gender in media profession and journalism practice
suggesting that men and women have pluralistic role in media organisations on which gender role theory is
advanced to underscore what the differing role function and work status means in reality. This helps
advance the gender role theory being the next discourse.
37American Journal of Humanities and Social Science (AJHSS) Volume 9, 2021
Theoretical Consideration: Gender Role Theory
Gender Role theory explains the differences in role playing between men and women insociety and the
way individuals attributes unfold in a given group behaviour and relationship possibly at the level of
organisations or workplace and their status in the system (Blackstone, 2003). AsGauntlett (2008) writes,
the gender role theory provides a theoretical basis in explaining how men and women are perceived
differently as leaders or workers, adding that individuals have role expectations on which they are
known and ientified with. (Enwefah, 2018).
The emergence of gender role theory goes back to the work of Money, John and co-researchers, (1955)
and Goldie (2014). These scholars provide the core principles of gender as sociallyconstructed norm in
relation to sex categorisation of individuals in society emphasising the notion of men and women as
a distinct gender identity in which actions, attitudes and behaviours are subsumed.This discourse
underscore the importance of gender role theory in mapping the patterns of gender inequality in media
profession and journalism practice.
Justifying Gender Role Theory and Gender Inequality in Journalism Practice
The discourse regarding gender role theory underlies the status differences of gender as individual men
and womenin society and institutions. Thus, the relationship between gender assumes unequal path in
media organisations, with the use of gender inequality as a critical parameter in explaining what goes on
between men and women in job assessment and status relations (Ridgeway, 2013; Scott, 2018). The
word “unequal” means gender inequality.Chavez (1985) notes that gender inequality is a major social
problem in society and the mass media as institutions of the fourth estate of the realm facilitate
domination of sexes plurality. The author then refers gender inequality as the process through which the
belief that women are inferior and subordinate to men is socially transmitted. For Trappel(2019), gender
inequality has extended to the media and journalism putting inequality and media relationship at the
burner of research investigation in order to understand the nature of gender pluralization.
These observations were again proven by Robinson (2018).According to her,gender inequality is
visible in both public and private spheres in which economic, political and social affairs are
obvious noting that gender inequality has been persistent over time, place and culture. She goes
further to identify class, sexuality, race, and ethnicity as criticalvariables for understanding
gender characteristics and status differences in gender research. Moreover, Whitting (2019), cited
the study of Geena Davis Institute to argue thatof 120 theatrical releases between 2010 and 2013 in ten
countries, gender inequality was detectable, reflective of 30.9 percent female and 69.1 percent were
male. This study is a mediation of film studies and media. The work of Chavez (1985) unfolds similar
evidence on gender inequality in media use citing comic strips as a medium for the perpetuation of men
and women usage differences. The author notes that there were disproportionate characters in the comic
strips, in favour of men with 94 percent and 56 percent women (see similar studies byBennett, 2016;
Hinnosaar, 2019).
These analysis are insightful to connect the relations of gender role theory and gender inequality in
journalism practice and for further empirical exploration. The discourse advances to the next section
which is the literature review.
Literature Review
38American Journal of Humanities and Social Science (AJHSS) Volume 9, 2021
The argument bordering on men and women as two distinct individuals were recurring theme from the
theory and this mirrors the expectations of individual performance as journalists in the media
organisations. The assertion is that both men and women journalists have different capacity in terms of
status and journalistic responsibities and further inquiry has proven lopsided gender-media relations.
This means that men and women do not have the same parity in journalism practice. Thus the words
dominance, non-parity, discrimination, underrepresentation;segregation becomes synonymous with the
term inequality in the analysis of gender issue in journalism research.
The patterns of gender inequality in journalism engagement and practice have been studied by scholars
and researchers citing for examplesPadovani, Raeymaeckers, and De Vuys,2018; Foundation
2011;Media Monitoring Africa by Radu and Chekera 2014; Radu and Chekera, 2014; North, 2014;
Mustafa, 2017).
Explicit to mentionare the works ofAcker (1990) and North (2014) who draw on two distinct concepts to
analyse gender-journalism dichotomy. The first of this is vertical segregation of gender which
impliesdisproportionate progression on the same job even though with similarity of skills. It also implies
men and women working status in journalism profession within the media organization is likely to move
in different stratification paths.
Marcotte’s; (2013) article entitledGender Inequality in Public Media Newsrooms explains the existence
of gender gap in which the domination of women were known in terms of percentage differences
between men and women in public media. According to him, the ratio of women to men employees in
the public radio media were 38 percent (women) and 62 percent (men) while in public television media,
the ratio for women was 44 percent and 56 percent for men.
The International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) (2011) shows similar pattern of dominance as
the finding indicates 73 percent of the top media management jobs were occupied by men compared to
27 percent women. As for the rank of reporters, men held 64 percent of the job as opposed to 36 percent
held by women. Moreover, the 2019 Women Media Center report points out the most recent affirmation
of non-parity or diversity in gender- media profession and journalism. The report indicates pathetic
observations of women status in the media in the US. In the words of the authors:
The media are in a state of great disruption, but despite all of the change, one thing
remains the same: the role of women is significantly smaller than that of men in
every part of news, entertainment and digital media.
These disparities in gender roles are likened to what Louise North (2014) refers to as vertical
segregation of women in journalism practice. As McQuail, cited inPadovani, Raeymaeckers and De
Vuys (2018) puts it,differential representation of women treats women on different measure of equality
and assessment in comparison to male inmedia journalism.
The second is horizontal segregation in journalism. This implies thatjournalistsas individuals engage in
journalism practice on which he or she is known to others as journalist for within the media organization
and the wider society. Thus, the relations of gender diversity and news functions provide a case for
measuring journalism role. For example, studies found gender disparity in public news media noting that
the ratio of women in public radio news was 44 percent and 56 percent men while in public television
news, the ratio was 35 percent women compared to 65 percent men. The author, therefore, refers to
these as obvious evidence of media inequality in journalism practice.
39American Journal of Humanities and Social Science (AJHSS) Volume 9, 2021
Further evidence on the relations of inequality in journalism practice was drawn from the 2017Women
Center Reports on US media. The report notes the existence of gender variation in news coverage in
different media outlets. As the report explains,men receive62 percent byline in newspaper news story
and women with 38 percent. Moreover, Bunnett (2016)asserts in her study of gender inequality in the
media that there is diversity within gendernews coverage, emphasizing that men get more coverage on
the front pages of magazines and newspapers as against women.She asserts thatif men are the ones
setting the cultural norms, then they are the ones able to modify them.
Beyond this on-going discourse, the relation of gender inequality in journalism practice hasdrawn the
attention of scholars and researchers in other societies. Evidence abound that in Kerala (India), gender
disparities subsist with women journalists being overshadowedby their male counterparts. As the author
puts it, women are facing gender inequalities in news production and most often news are reported from
the men’s point of view (Rajeev, Midhila and Karthika, 2019). This position was corroborated
byNakacwa (2018). According to him,, there are fewer female practicing journalists in different media
outlets in all the main media platforms in the country. Reflecting back on this discourse, the effect of
glass ceiling is obvious to signpost, given the under-representation of women journalsits in
journalismprofession and non-progression to the top management of journalism career (Valsman, 2011;
Reuter.com, 2018; Azrak, 2018) and in relation to the studies of other researchers on the effect of glass
ceiling in journalism and career prospect (Valsman, 2011; Reuter.com, 2018; Azrak, 2018; Franks,
2013a;2013b; Daniels, Glenda et al, 2018; Rodny-Gumede, Ylva, 2018; Rajeev, Midhila and Karthika,
2019).
For obvious clarity, the phrase “class ceiling” refers to static progression of women on the job implying that the movement of
women journalists to upper cadre of the profession is amirage. Put simply, the social differences between men and women in
journalism practice(Loden, 2017). The reason for the complacency is, therefore, examined.
Why Gender Inequality in Journalism Practice
Earlier discourse on gender inequality points to insightful disparities between men and women in
journalism practice, suggesting that women’s matter in the media profession is low key and
discriminatory.As Lobo,Silveirinha and co-authors (2012) argue that the media deserve to be blamed for
putting women in ainegative perception. In the words of the authors, the women have
beensystematicallytrivialized to a state ofsymbolic annihilation and that this has influenced one-way
pattern of gender domination in journalism practice and in which male are at the‐center of media
professional culture.
Furthermore Wood (1995) notes that the media portray women as too stereotype, seeing them as sex
objects, often incompetent and dependent. Thisappears to affect the competitive strength of gender in
media market and the journalism practice.According to him, the image of women in the media tends to
reflectcultural stereotypes that are inconsistent with reality (McQuail, 2005; Abdelmogeth and Mossal,
2012).Mustafa (2017) identifies lack of opportunity as a critical factor hindering women’s access to
newsroom journalism to effectively compete with men in newsroom reportorial practice in newspapers,
television and radio stations while York (2017) describes gender disparity in leadership position in
journalismas an additional factor that has weakened the motivation of women in pursuing media
profession as status career.
Fundamental to the plight of gender inequality isthe issue of policy framework in addressing the
dominance of women in journalism profession and by extension journalism practice. Padovani,
40American Journal of Humanities and Social Science (AJHSS) Volume 9, 2021
Raeymaeckers and De Vuys(2018) provide comprehensive documentation on media-gender inequalities
policy around the world and its implementation is far from encouraging. This suggests further that
women in journalism are not making decisive breakthrough in terms of comparative progression with
the men.
These review provides ground to explore whether gender inequality exits in Nigeria journalism
environment and in what dimensions of inequality. The current analysis is underpinned by the following
research questions: RQ1. Does gender inequality exist in journalism practice in Nigeria? RQ2: What
factors influence gender inequality in journalism practice in Nigeria?RQ3.Are there any consequences
of gender imbalance in journalism practice in Nigeria?
The next section examines the methodology required to explore these research questions for descriptive
statistical findings and confirm whether gender inequality exits or otherwise in the Nigerian media
environment.
Methodology and Data Collection
To examine the research questions,descriptive research design and survey procedure were adopted.
(Salaria, 2012; McCombes, 2020). As Aggarwal (2008) cited in Salaria (2012) explains, descriptive
research involves the gathering of information bordering on prevailing conditions or situations for the
purpose of descriptive analysis, interpretation, comparisons, identification of trends and relationships
arising from the situational outcome. Thus, the use of descriptiveresearch approachhelps uncover gender
difference experience of practicing journalsits, as men and women in the media profession.
Sample Population and Data Collection
The simple population for this study was conducted in three media organisations with sample size in
bracket.i. Nigerian Television Authority (79);ii. Delta Broadcasting Service (144); and iii. Pointer
Newspaper (96).. Thetotalnumber sampled was 316. The rationale for the sample size was to get
insights into the experience of journalists as employees aspiring to the top of journalism profession and
role comparison between gender as men and women to ascertain the patternof discriminations or gender
gap in organisational roles between gender with a view to achieve predictable generalization in gender
inequality. Moreover,a self-completion questionnaire was administered to journalists through
convenience sampling in different media organisations on a face-to-face procedure. A research
assistant was recruited to help in distributing and retrieving copies of the questionnaire.Three
days, from10th - 13th December,2019, were spent in the administration and retrieval of copies of
completed questionnaire.
The questionnaire was developed on a four-points Liket Scale (Strongly Agreed (SA) = 4; Agreed (A) =
3; Strongly Disagreed (SD) = 2; Disagreed (D) = 1)to reflect the bias for descriptive statistics relative to
particpants’ response rating in line with the research questions. The statistical procedure for the
presentation of data and analysis is the weighted mean score (WMS) based on the four-points likert
scale. The decision to use the weighted mean score (WMS) is influenced by those other researchers
(Gunawat,Singh, Patwardhan and Gehlot, 2015; Nwanmereni, Ochonogor, andOrlu-Orl, 2018).
The mean is 2.5. Thestatitical formula for the calculation of weighted mean score is:
AR x W
R x NO
41American Journal of Humanities and Social Science (AJHSS) Volume 9, 2021
Where:
AR = Aggregate Response
W = Weighting
R =Total number of Response
NO = Number of options in the scale (4)
Using the four points Likert Scale, responses to the items in the questionnaire were weighted as follows:
Strongly Agreed (SA)= 4; Agreed (A) = 3; Strongly Disagreed (SD) = 2 and Disagreed (D) = 1.
Findings and Discussion
This section presents and analyses the data that were obtained from copies of completed questionnaire
invoving 316 participants.drawn from three study locations Asaba: the Nigerian Television Authourity
(NTA), Delta Broadcasting Service (DBS) and Pointer Newspaper. The RQ1 to RQ3 on which data were
derived are now addressed, starting with the questionon whether there is gender inequality in Journalism
practice in Nigeria with three statements to assess participants’ opinion on the issue.Thus, the independent
variables via statement on Table 1 (1 – 3); Table 2 (4 – 7) and Table 3 (8= 9) were designed with set of
variables; the dependent variable (gender inequality) and the independent variables (statement categories
1-9) to underscore the patterns of journalism practice between men and women jounalists in media
organisations and statitistical picture were ascertained for positive finding. The findings are, therefore,
presented starting from Table 1 below:
Table 1: Gender Inequality in Journalism Practice in Nigeria
Responses
Questionnaire Items Media Station SA A SD D Total WMS Remarks
S/
No 4 3 2 1
1. There is gender inequality NTA 58 13 3 5 282 3.5 Accepted
in journalism practice in
DBS 91 36 6 11 495 3.4 Accepted
my Media Organization
Pointer News 62 19 4 11 306 3.1 Accepted
2. There is gender inequality NTA 61 10 3 5 285 3.6 Accepted
in recruitment processes in
DBS 88 29 1 16 477 3.3 Accepted
my organization
Pointer News 59 21 6 10 321 3.3 Accepted
3. The male gender is often NTA 56 12 3 5 271 3.4 Accepted
preferred over the female
DBS 96 28 5 15 493 3.4 Accepted
during recruitments
Pointer News 57 21 1 7 290 3.0 Accepted
Source: Field Survey, (2020)
Respondents data in Table 1 shows that the existence of gender inequality in journalism practice cuts
across the three media organisations, as evident from the weighted mean scores of 3.1, 3.4 and 3.5.This
findings validate those of scholars and researchers that gender inequality is apparent in media journalism
42American Journal of Humanities and Social Science (AJHSS) Volume 9, 2021
(Chavez, 1985; Bennett 2016;Women Center Reports, 2017; Chavez). Regarding the issue on gender
inequality in recruitment process in media journalism, the findings from NTA, DBS and Pointer
newspaper suggest discriminatory recruitments are evident from the statistical variations and are positive
to indicate affirmation (Table 1 (2)). The results support the position of other researchers citing
forexamplesMarcotte, 2013; International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF), 2011).Furthermore, the
data on preference for male gender over female during recruitment revealed statistical consistency
indicating similarity of responses among the three media outlets (Table 1 (3). The finding underscores the
gender discrimination with women at the negative end of the recruitment practice or institutional
recruitmentpractice. This implies that men are more likely to get the job first ina competitive job
recruitment (Stamarski and Hing, 2015).
Table 2: Factors influencing gender inequality in Journalism practice in Nigeria
Media Responses
S/N Questionnaire Items Station SA A SD D Total WMS Remarks
4 3 2 1
4. Preference of male NTA 46 23 3 7 266 3.3 Accepted
graduate journalists over
DBS 89 27 9 19 476 3.3 Accepted
females arising from
societal or patriarchal Pointer 58 20 5 13 315 3.2 Accepted
predispositions News
5. NTA 11 8 14 46 142 1.7 Rejected
Poor performance of DBS 18 14 26 86 252 1.7 Rejected
women on the job
Pointer 15 13 11 57 178 1.8 Rejected
News
6. NTA 14 11 14 40 157 1.9 Rejected
Influence of media DBS 16 21 23 84 257 1.7 Rejected
ownership
Pointer 13 10 15 58 170 1.7 Rejected
News
7. Media industry regulation NTA 9 11 21 38 149 1.8 Rejected
in Nigeria does not
DBS 15 16 23 90 244 1.6 Rejected
encourage the recruitment
and growth of women Pointer 16 16 10 54 186 1.9 Rejected
journalists News
43American Journal of Humanities and Social Science (AJHSS) Volume 9, 2021
Source: Field Survey,2020
Findings from 2 shows indication of obvious preference for male graduate journalists over
femalejournalsits as evident from the weighted mean scores of 3.3 for NTA; 3.3 for DBS and 3.2 for
Pointer Newspaper suggesting societal or patriarchal predispositions against women.in the media
profession. Moreover, the negative perception against women as being sex objects, non- assertive and
dependent appears to put women in non-competitive posiotn with men. Wood(1995) andPavlou and
Christiana (2018) sees unconscious bias that women are incapable of forging comparative strenghth as
men in work performance (McQuail, 2005; Abdelmogeth and Mossal, 2012). Furthermore, the
conscious bias against women in occupation found eveidence from the study of Martin and Barnard
(2013) that gender role of women in male-dominated environment is a mirage and in which the men are
protective of their status quo (Safa and Akter, 2015; Lobo,Silveirinha and co-authors, 2012).
Table 3: Consequences of Gender Imbalance in Journalism Practice in Nigeria
S/ Questionnaire Items Media Responses Tota WMS Remarks
N Station SA A SD D l
8. NTA 43 22 5 9 300 3.7 Accepted
Undue marginalization of DBS 79 37 11 17 466 3.2 Accepted
women.
Pointer 63 25 8 335 3.4 Accepted
News
9. Continual absence of women NTA 44 21 3 11 256 3.2 Accepted
in key decision-making
DBS 81 41 6 16 475 3.2 Accepted
positions.
Pointer 59 20 4 13 317 3.3 Accepted
News
Field Survey, 2020
Result presented in Table 3 shows undue marginalization between gender in the respective media
organizations as evident from the statistical weighting noting NTA (3.7); DBS (3.2) and Pointer
newspaper (3.4) confirming as well gender discrimination in journalism practice in Nigeria media
landscape (Table 3 (8). The undue marginalization means that comparative progression between men and
women journalsits differ within the media organisations to the disadvantage of women journalists. This
obervation corroborates earlier researches byMedia Monitoring Africa (2014)and Franks, (2015) who
found women journalists at a low end of journalism role and function in different capacity of news
production.
Respondents’ data on the continual absence of women journalsits in key positions unfold statistical value
of differing weighting, as the findings from NTA (3.2); DBS (3.2) and Pointer newspaper (3.3) revealed
(Table 3 (9). This implies that the breakthrough at top of managerial cadre for women journalsits is
blinked indicating that women journalists inNigeria media institutions face the effect of glass ceilingand
occupational gender segregation in journalism career. This assertion is supported by similar work of
44American Journal of Humanities and Social Science (AJHSS) Volume 9, 2021
researchers who noted glass ceiling as a factor instigating gender inequality in occupational career,
including the media (Valsman, 2011; Reuter.com, 2018; Azrak, 2018; Franks, Suzanne, 2013; Daniels,
Glenda et al, 2018; Rodny-Gumede, Ylva, 2018; Rajeev, Midhila and Karthika, 2019).
Furthermore,Endong, (2016) notes that the low representation of female journalsits in decision-making
portends adverse effect on programmes production bothering on women’s or family issues.
As Rodny-Gumede and Ylva (2018) rightly explain, the media have become old boy club in which the
men are at the helm of the journalism profession and management, influencing the direction of the social
responsibility of the media to the society and its role in governance.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The deduction arising from the study is that journalism practice in Nigeria drives on different dimensions
of segregation noting gender horizontal dimension in which men journalsits are at the center of news
production in media organisations. Discriminatory segregation towards women journalsits has become
the norm of gender gap in media organisations. Moreover, vertical dimension of segregation has
underscored the margination of women in getting to the optimum position in journalism career. The
expectation of leadership role has become one of men’s domination and the effectof glass ceiling in
defining their role stagnation. This again leaves women at a low level of manangerial cadre and decision-
making in journalism practice. In a specific remark, the recruitment into the media industry is favorable
to men compared to women in Nigeria. Further indication underscoreseighty percent of practicing
journalists in Nigeria are male affirming underrepresentation of womenjournalsits in news media
(Anyanwu, 2017)
In addition, the derogatory perception of women journalsits is laden with sexism and stereotypes that
presumably impede their progress in the journalism profession. As a way out of this intractable problem
of gender inequality in journalism practice,this study recommends as follows:
Owners of media stations in Nigeria (public and private) should shun discriminatory
attitudes or conditions that put women at a disadvantaged position in terms of recruitment
of editorial staff. Male and female graduate journalists should be given equal opportunity
during recruitment processes.
Media regulatory authorities in Nigeria should rise to confront discrimination against
women in terms of recruitment and promotion. The authorities can achieve this by
monitoring the gender gap in the composition of the editorial staff of media organizations
in Nigeria.
The Nigerian National Assembly and State Assemblies should enact laws that make
criminal all societal or patriarchal norms that promote gender discrimination. Such laws
should be enforced by the government to eradicate all forms of gender injustice that
keeps the society bereft of the creative abilities of the women.
Women societies (National Council of Women Society (NCWS), the Federation of
Muslim Women’s Associations of Nigeria (FOMWAN), Women in Nigeria (WIN) and
media professional association (Nigerian Women Journalists; NAWOJ) should mount
strategic sensitization using different media outlets nationwide to educate the public,
stakeholders of different service providers and policy makers to give women comparable
opportunities in gender employment. Moreover, the Nigerian Women Journalists
45American Journal of Humanities and Social Science (AJHSS) Volume 9, 2021
(NAWOJ) should serve asconstructive role model to inspire young generation of
graduates in mass communication to take-on journalism as a life career in the media
environment. This pursuance of gender balance will strategically assist women journalsits
to cope and dislodgethe discriminatory attitude of the male counterpart in the media
profession.
Footnotes:
1. 1: Nigeria profile - Media
Retrieved from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13949549
2. Nigeria: Celebrating 160 Years of Journalism in Nigeria
Retrieved from: https://allafrica.com/stories/201811210055.html
3. Gender Identity
Retrieved from: https://www.thenewatlantis.com/docLib/20160819_TNA50Part3.pdf
4. Gender Inequality
Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_inequality
5. Radio stations in Nigeria (Government and Private Commercial
Retrieved from mesoimeso.org/radio-stations-nigeria-government-private
commercial/:
6. TV stations in Nigeria and their frequencies
Retrieved from: https://www.legit.ng/1166741-tv-stations-nigeria-frequencies.html.
7. Nigerian Newspapers (Online (95) + Offline (51) Publications)
Retrieved from: https://nigerianfinder.com/nigerian-newspapers/.
8. What is descriptive research?
Retrieved from: http://members.aect.org/edtech/ed1/41/41-01.html.
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