The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) visited Vanguard Newspaper’s Head Office in Lagos on Thursday, 29 August 2024, to advocate for gender parity in newsroom leadership and news, as part of the Report Women! News and Newsrooms House-to-House engagement. The session, moderated by Elizabeth Osayande, journalist at Vanguard, was to share findings from WSCIJ’s recent report titled “Who leads the newsrooms and news?” and engage media owners and managers.
Welcoming the team from WSCIJ, Eze Anaba, Editor, Vanguard, said the organisation was happy to receive the WSCIJ team and that his team was willing to learn from the report WSCIJ had come to share and ask questions about its work and how to fit in.
Motunrayo Alaka, Executive Director/CEO, explained that the media engagement was necessary to help the Vanguard reflect on how inclusive it has been in the leadership of its newsroom and news. According to the report she presented, the voice and face of the news and the newsroom is male, with women representing 26.9% of management positions and 24.2% of the board in Nigerian newsrooms. Also, 24% of anchors/authors and 12.1% of expert resource persons are women, and 7.1% of stories are about women and girls. She affirmed that the news media cannot demand what it does not have from society. She urged Vanguard to intentionally feature women as leaders of its newsroom and news.
Sharing about Report Women! Champion building and how adapting its strategies can benefit newsrooms, Lekan Otufodunrin, Managing Director, Media Career Development Network, noted that consciously or unconsciously, there is a glass ceiling, and the media have not been intentional about including women. He urged media mangers to encourage and support female journalists to maximise training and mentorship opportunities. He saw this as an avenue for growth. He charged the female journalists to not wait until they are appointed a position before initiating actions.
During the Q&A session, several issues related to women in the newsroom were discussed. One challenge identified was that women in the media are not always forthcoming in engaging with journalists. It was also noted that there is a perceived “sit-tight” syndrome among women, where they are hesitant to move or grow within their roles. The discussion also addressed the need to make newsrooms more women-friendly, particularly in balancing professional responsibilities with family and social life. Suggestions included embracing technology to allow more flexible work arrangements, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, where remote work became more common. It was emphasised that the media should be more empathetic towards women, giving them the time and space they need to contribute effectively.
In his response on behalf of Vanguard to the presentation, Anaba acknowledged the awareness created by the report and the significant impact of the women he has worked with in the newsroom. He expressed his support for the growth of the women in Vanguard to leadership roles. Morenike Taire, Woman Editor, Vanguard, expressed her commitment to looking into training opportunities for her female reporters.
Samson Ademola, Programme Officer, WSCIJ, appreciated the management of Vangaurd for the opportunity to share with their team, and urged the male journalists to lend support to the women in the newsroom to grow. 61 members of the management and staff of Vanguard were engaged at the Report Women! House-to-House chat at Vanguard. They include Chioma Gabriel, Editor, Special Features; Kenneth Ehigiator, News Editor; Tunde Oso, Production Editor; Emma Nnadozie, Crime Editor; Etop Evan, Sub Editor; Dada Adekola, Cartoon Editor; Emeka Anaeto, Business Editor; and Evelyn Usman, Assistant Crime Editor.
The House-to-House initiative was designed to take training or advocacy on media matters to media houses to engage both their management and staff members. WSCIJ has used the initiative in the past to canvas for the creation of investigative journalism desk, gender policy and practices in the newsroom under the Report Women! project, and improved reporting for the energy desk.
The engagement at Vanguard is a component of the Report Women! News and Newsroom Engagement project, which engages the management and staff of news media organisations to increase the representation of women as leaders in their coverage and newsrooms. The project is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The WSCIJ will visit more media houses in the coming weeks to share and engage on findings from the ‘Who leads the newsrooms and news?’ report and the project.
