In an effort to encourage and deepen female-centric reportage and celebrate deliberate efforts of the media to change the female narratives in a gender-imbalanced and stereotyped society, the Women Radio 91.7, hosted an award night for journalists and media organisations who have championed the course of gender-balanced reportage.

The maiden edition of the “ReportHer Awards,” which was held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Lagos on Saturday to honour the winners of the awards from various categories, was organized in collaboration with the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism and sponsored by UNwomen and the Canadian government. Prominent media figures, civil society organizations, and advocates for gender equality were also present.

An Awardee

In her opening remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of Women Radio, Mrs Toun Okewale Sonaiya, praised the media for bringing attention to women’s issues despite it being a male-dominated field. She also thanked the heads of media organizations for giving women more visibility.

She also praised media owners for their deliberate efforts to increase the visibility of women in society. Speaking about the award, she said it was created to recognize the exceptional work of journalists and media platforms who are breaking down barriers to tell untold stories about women.

Mr Kole Shettima, Director of the MacArthur Foundation in Nigeria, expressed his gratitude to the organizers of the awards, adding that the foundation has supported more than 60 media organizations in the country to promote gender inclusion and equality. He also reassured that the foundations will be more committed to gender-balanced reporting and fairness in the country.

Balarabe Ilelah, the director general of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), said in accordance with NBC code section 310, the commission is dedicated to preserving the dignity of women everywhere and that doing so is crucial for the advancement of the nation.

Encouraging the recipients of the awards, he noted that there are still more grounds to cover. He urged them to do more, saying that “there is still more to do in the area of affirmative action, forced labor, problems that are almost everywhere in the nation, rape, girl child abuse, and many more.”

Setting the tone for the event, Ms. Beatrice Eyong, UN Women’s Country Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, stated that the global organization was concerned about the feminization of poverty, mortality, and morbidity which were impeding its sustainable development goals.

She added that UN Women has decided to partner with the media to have a wider reach for its campaign for gender equality. She noted that achieving gender equality in the country amounts to the eradication of poverty and the achievement of sustainable development goals in the country.

“Our main issue is the fact that about 50% of our people cannot participate in development and that’s why we have the feminisation of poverty, morbidity and mortality. We collaborate with the media because the media is powerful, the media has the power to change perspectives, the way people look at women, the way women are appointed, it has everything to say about. “Our message is simple, it is that if we don’t have gender equality, we are not going to achieve our sustainable development goals, and we are not going to get out of poverty in our country”, she added.

Mrs Motunrayo Alaka, Executive Director of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, stated in her keynote speech that the awards were established to recognise the positive impact of the media on female coverage. “The ReportHer Awards will continue to celebrate and acknowledge the media. Though only one will take an award in each category tonight, every media outlet that has supported and continues to do more is celebrated for committing to achieving a 50:50 reportage of both men and women”.

Mrs Alaka also charged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to observe 50:50 appointments in his cabinet, adding that such action will not only put Nigeria on the global map but also enhance the country’s development.

The ReportHer Awards encompassed various categories, Television stations, Radio stations, Print media platforms, Digital or online categories, and individuals.

Also, the panel of judges for the awards are Mr Lanre Arogundade, the Executive Director of the International Press Centre, Chinonso Clark, CEO, Lead for Good Africa; Hamzat Lawal, CEO of Connected Development; and Ene Ede- Publisher of The Woman Today Newspaper.

Speaking on behalf of the judges, Mr Lanre Arogundade said there were 109 entries for the awards, he further explained that the parameters used to select the winners were based on the impacts of the gender-based stories submitted and their social responsibilities.

Explaining the parameters further, he added that the judges looked into the extent to which the story uses data, cite sources and looked at presentation and effectiveness, and the extent to which media institutions that submitted their entries, and journalists meet the professional standards portraying women.”

Meanwhile, Arise Television won the Television category, and Africa Independent Television was announced as the runner-up. Also in the radio category, Voice of Nigeria emerged as the winner, and Sparkling FM came in second.

The Blueprint newspaper took the winning position in the print category, leaving the runner-up position for the Leadership Newspaper. Also, Tech Cabal was announced as the winner of the Digital Category, while Ripples Nigeria took the runner-up.

The organiser announced that the winners of each category were honoured with awards plaques and laptops, while the runners-up were compensated with awards certificates and tablets

In the individual category, Titilope Fadare from Premium Times won the best gender of the year, while Ene Oshaba C was announced as the runner-up. Along with receiving the overall prize for winning her category, MsW Beatrice Eyong announced on behalf of UN Women that Ms. Fadare would be sponsored to the UK for specialized training on gender reporting at the British Broadcasting Commission.