As a field that aims to be the fourth estate of the realm, hold the government responsible, and act as a mediator between the people and the government, journalism and media practice are not without their difficulties.

While the profession is not immune to attacks and intimidation from state and non-state actors, female journalists face disproportionately high levels of attacks, intimidation, and discrimination both at and outside of the workplace, as well as harassment and policies that limit their opportunities for advancement to leadership roles in the media industry.

The challenges also include the stereotypical beliefs and limitations that are impeding the performance of female journalists by reducing their assignments to less critical aspects of the profession. This has reduced their relevance to being at the forefront as the captain of the industry.

On International Women’s Day, female journalists have expressed concern about the increasing difficulties they encounter in their work and how this has continued to limit their ability to bring diversity to important societal issues. While speaking with Nigerian Democratic Reports, they also emphasised the important role women play in promoting the field of journalism.

The female journalists also expressed the deliberate attempt of some key figures in the newsroom to silence them due to their biological makeup, which is usually seen as vulnerability and a hindrance to their professionalism. They observed that this is a key factor in why their male counterparts are preferred for some specific roles while women are sometimes sidelined.

“Female journalists face multiple challenges in the newsroom, and these range from gender bias to discrimination and workplace harassment, which limit their career growth and participation in media leadership. The prominent challenge that female journalists encounter is sexual harassment, which they are unable to report, either because there is no one to report to or no one would believe them or the case of sexual harassment is seen as a norm within the newsroom,” Blessing Oladunjoye, the Publisher of BONews, an online platform, posited.

According to her, despite the challenges women face, they still strive to perform their tasks like their counterparts “Despite these challenges, women journalists in Nigeria are making strides, leading investigative reports, advocating for gender equality, and breaking barriers in their respective beats”, she said.

Oluwakemi Adelagun-Olaoti, a reporter with Premium Times, believed that motherhood and the responsibility of taking care of family are barriers to their performance in the job, as their male counterparts do not bear similar burdens.

She further explained that the lack of policies from media houses to make work-life balance for women, as they fail to recognise the need to create an enabling atmosphere, is an impeding factor for women to perform optimally. According to the underrepresentation of women in newsrooms, it is a strong factor for the media owners to continue to overlook the needs of women.

“As a mother and a female journalist, the demands of motherhood and family responsibilities create challenges for women in the media. Some women in the media are still unable to balance work and maternal responsibilities, especially in some workplaces that lack policies that support maternity leave and flexible work hours.

“Another thing to note is that women are often overlooked when seeking expert opinions, which shouldn’t be so. The newsrooms are largely not inclusive. We are under-represented when it comes to decisions that matter,” she said.

For Maugbe Josu, a senior judiciary reporter for Lagos State Television, the susceptibility of women to physical assault when performing their duties has caused restraints for them to perform at the optimal level.

Using her experience as a case study, she narrated her ordeal when she had an encounter with a security officer who attacked her for taking a picture in a designated area: “Another thing I observe when it comes to media female media practitioners and security officers It is always easy for security operatives to harass female journalists, which I experienced last week during a case at TBS”.

We were trying to take our shots. They stopped us from taking it. One of the officers, Fashina, held my hand in my arm tightly and threw me. You know, as a female journalist, safety is another thing. Our safety. So moving forward, I think we should be given more and more preference. Yes. They should allow us to work”.

Ms. Josu added that women journalists’ mental health receives little attention and that denying them opportunities to pursue their careers can lead to mental stress for them.

“They should allow us to explore. They should be balanced at work. And they should also know that we are vulnerable. We are vulnerable. We women will go through a lot of things, and that vulnerability makes us sometimes have mental health issues,” she said.

In a similar view, Aisha Mohmoh, a reporter with hoggishness, also decried the harassment of female reporters as a sensitive case that must be attended to, stating that “this would not allow us to grow well in the profession. Harassment is also a big thing. Recently, I was embarrassed by someone just because I’m a lady, and so many other times, we’ve been harassed sexually by senior colleagues and the like”, she lamented.

For Omolola Pedro, a freelance journalist and fact-checker, sexual advances on women by senior colleagues in the newsroom, as well as the weaponization of punishment at the point of decline, are examples of the challenges women face in the media.

The intentional “concentration on what they bring to the table, neglecting their challenges as major concerns” is another thing she mentioned. “Non-consideration of pregnant/breastfeeding moms in the structure of operations, absence/inadequate maternity leave and benefits, and lack of attention to women who suffer from women-related medical issues.”

Call for Advocacy, Training and Empowerment
Speaking on the way forward for the challenges female journalists face, Blessing Oladunjoye called for reforms in the media to create a positive culture to further encourage women to thrive in the media. “There must be structural reforms, policy and legal protections, and cultural shifts to ensure a more inclusive and equitable media environment. For instance, media houses can begin to have gender policies to ensure that the needs and concerns of female journalists are protected, regardless of who is the lead of the organisation. Safety measures should also be put in place so that while in their office or while doing their work, female journalists can feel (and be) protected,” she suggested.

EbunOluwa Olafusi, the head of the fact-check desk at TheCable newspaper, called for conscious efforts to invest in training women and empower them to perform their roles at the optimal level. According to Ms. Olafusi, the need for women to keep on receiving training from media resource centres, as the International Press Centre actively does, would further put female journalists at the frontline of their profession.

“Let’s invest more in women. Let’s invest more in training them. IPC does that. That was part of the things I was going to say. So there should be more investment in women. There should be more investment. Yes,” she said.

She also urged the media owners to create parity in gender representation in their media houses, as it would further encourage them to apply for opportunities that will enhance their professionalism.

“Media houses should do more capacity-building programmes to increase women’s chances of upskilling and filling leadership roles in the newsrooms. So, please take more action as we are talking about how many reporters we take in our newsroom. Don’t say that would be better as a senate reporter as a national assembly reporter, something a female reporter can do. So it boils down to the media owners.

Calling for more action instead of rhetoric, she also charged the women to push themselves to excellence to get their deserved respect in the industry. “Women should stop thinking that everything should be handed down to them. Do you? I hope you understand what I’m trying to say. You should bring your A-game. You should bring your best foot forward. We should always try to bring our best forward. And with the motivation and training we get from different angles, I believe this can also help us. And we need more actions too. When we are talking about female representation in leadership, let’s even start with the newsroom before we go to get to leadership positions,” she said.

Ayomide Eweje, a programme officer at the Media Rights Agenda, also called for more training for female journalists and advocacy to campaign against work harassment in the newsroom to ensure equal opportunity for both genders.
“These challenges can be combatted by providing capacity-building training, which would equip women in newsrooms with adequate skills and self-protection skills that would allow them to cover these ‘hard’ beats. Also, there should be advocacy programmes that protect them from workplace harassment and allow them access to seek redress when harassed. Training should also be provided in newsrooms that would focus on seeing and accepting women in newsrooms as equal partners with their male counterparts.