News Media Professionals Commit to Unbiased Reporting of Women in Public Leadership

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At a three-day Reflection Meeting on Gender-Sensitive Reporting and Media Coverage of Women in Public Leadership, Nigerian news media professionals committed to unbiased reporting on women in public leadership. 

The interactive convergence was organised by the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (EJS) Presidential Centre for Women and Development, in collaboration with the International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos and held from Sept 16 to 18, 2026.

Noella Ngunyam, Communications Lead, EJS Centre, highlighted that the reflection aimed to examine the critical role media plays in shaping how women leaders are perceived and understood.

“We are trying to analyse how the media frame female leaders, not only politicians but also business executives, academics, philanthropists and others occupying influential positions in society,” said Noella.

She said the media needs to increase its reportage of women and “pay attention to women’s representation and understand that there is a real gender gap in leadership of women.”

During a panel session at the event, Ms Motunrayo Alaka, the Executive Director of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), noted that while journalists have a responsibility to report on women, women themselves also have a responsibility to make themselves visible.

Motunrayo cautioned journalists against turning reporting into public relations, stressing the importance of independent and critical journalism. She urged journalists to become more curious about the women they cover and to conduct deeper research into their backgrounds, work and contributions, so they can write in-depth and detailed stories about women. She also identified culture and religion as major factors that influence perceptions of women and leadership.

Anike-Ade Funke Treasure, a seasoned media professional and board member of IPC, observed that the boundaries between social media and traditional media reporting were becoming increasingly blurred, creating new opportunities for journalists to engage audiences and tell more stories about women leaders. She encouraged the media to explore different ways to profile women, including exclusive interviews and other forms of storytelling that give women more space to explain their work and perspectives.

Funmi Bamgbala, Programmes Manager of Women Radio, challenged journalists to examine biases within their own reporting. She emphasised that “we have biases that we haven’t confronted; it could affect our report,” she said, urging journalists to apply the same standards to men and women.

Additionally, Simbiat Bakare, Founding Director at Naija Feminists Media (NFM), urged newsrooms to be deliberate about covering women, gathering female expert sources, and reporting bias. She noted that NFM is evidence that newsrooms can consistently report on women without bias. She added that reporting on women is not a favour to the gender but an ethical form of journalism essential to Nigeria’s sustainable development. 

Ijeoma Thomas-Odia, Editor at The Guardian Woman, further urged media professionals to stop making excuses for inadequate reporting of women and start committing to transformation. 

At the end of the three-day reflection, participants developed a toolkit to support journalists, digital creators, and editors in covering women in public leadership. Participants at the meeting also committed to what they would stop doing in their reporting on women, what they would start doing to change biased reporting, and who would be their accountability partner in ensuring inclusive and unbiased reporting on women in the news.

Noella said the reflection meeting is part of a wider regional effort to examine the media coverage of women in public leadership in Nairobi, Kenya, and Southern and Northern Africa.

Editor’s Note: BO News first published this report.