Management and leadership of the Nigeria media remain largely male-dominated with no sign that the theme of the 2020 International Women’s Day “I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women ’s Rights” #Eachforrequal will be achieved soon in the sector.
An excerpt from the full report of the Gender audit of the composition of top management of the media in the country up till March 2020 indicates that only very few women occupy top positions and are able to influence the decision making on content and policies.
The findings of the audit conducted by Journalists for Christ, a faith-based media group in Nigeria that has gender in the media as one of its area of focus will be officially released at the end of May 2020.
Selected major print and broadcast media organisations in Nigeria were audited in the exercise.
The positions audited for this report included top print media designations such as the Managing Director, General Manager, Editor-in-Chief, Editor Daily, Sunday Editor, Saturday, Online Editor and Chairman Editorial Board.
The broadcast audit covered top management positions such as Chairman, Director General, General Manager, Director News, Director Programmes, Director Current Affairs and Director Current Affairs
The audit revealed a decrease in the top positions held by women within the past year, especially in the print media, a few more women held top management positions in broadcast media.
Of the 13 newspapers audited, there is presently no woman Managing Editor/ Editor-In-Chief in the country, while only one woman holds the position of Editor, Daily and Chairman, Editorial Board.
For weekend papers (Saturday and Sunday), there are only women editors.
In fourteen broadcasts organisations (Radio and Television) audited, the managements are headed by women.