As part of our International Women’s Day Special Reports, we asked female journalists about specific gender-related abuses, inequalities, systemic biases, workplace harassment, and other challenges they have experienced in newsrooms and other media environments.
While male managers and colleagues are the main culprits, some women also make life in the newsrooms harrowing for female journalists.
In the few reports below for which we have opted not to use bylines and specific names where the incidents happened, we share accounts of “hostility from male editors who wield their power unfairly”,” eyes that seemed to cut through everything”, “abusive senior colleague and others.
‘Many cases of deliberate hostility from toxic male editors’
As the world celebrates International Women’s Day, it is important to reflect on the experiences and challenges women in journalism face while striving for leadership positions.
The journey is far from easy, and the glass ceiling remains stubbornly intact.
Take a look around, how many female news editors or business editors can you count in Nigerian media houses? The numbers are dismally low.
And when it comes to women occupying the position of Editor-in-Chief, the figures are even more discouraging.
Rising through the ranks in the newsroom, an industry where men often assume dominance, is a formidable challenge for women.
There are still beats and positions that women in journalism are rarely allowed to attain in many media houses. Many female journalists find themselves permanently stuck on a particular beat without any real chance of elevation. Others are deliberately moved to less demanding beats where expectations are lower and career growth is limited.
Years ago, female journalists were largely confined to soft beats like fashion, entertainment, family, home décor, cookery, and children’s pages. These were considered more “suitable” for women, reinforcing outdated gender stereotypes.
However, times have changed. Women are now breaking barriers, proving their competence in politics, business, investigative journalism, and even crime reporting areas that were once dominated by men.
Yet, despite these strides, the resistance persists.
Female journalists often have to work twice as hard to be considered for leadership roles. In many newsrooms, no matter how skilled or experienced a woman is, there are still unwritten rules that keep her from reaching the highest editorial positions.
Many female journalists have encountered deliberate hostility from male editors who wield their power unfairly. The toxicity is real.
A colleague once confided in me that a top editor in her media house blatantly told her she would never be considered for a top editorial position, simply because she was a woman. These attitudes are not just discriminatory; they are audaciously demeaning.
Some male editors openly ridicule their female colleagues, questioning their competence and dismissing their ambitions.
Another disturbing case involved a talented journalist who endured nearly a year of harassment from a toxic news editor and daily editor. Instead of being encouraged to excel, she was repeatedly undermined.
One afternoon, while receiving feedback on her work, the daily editor told her outright that his wife was a better writer than she was.
The comparison was not only absurd but also deeply insulting.
From that point on, he subjected her to relentless verbal and psychological abuse, chipping away at her confidence until she lost her self-worth.
The list of injustices is endless.
Even I have had my share of unfair treatment. I was once instructed to continue writing and editing my section while on leave something unheard of for male editors, who often travel and become unreachable during their time off. Is leave not meant for rest?
Why is a female journalist, especially one with family responsibilities, expected to keep working?
There is also the widely held belief that women cannot handle the pressures of late-night production or high-stakes negotiations that take place at odd hours.
But my question is, why should media production extend to midnight every single day?
Some media houses keep their reporters in the office until 10 p.m., even when there is no pressing reason for such late hours. In this era of digital transformation, where remote work and automation are redefining journalism, why are outdated work practices still being enforced in ways that disproportionately affect women?
This systemic bias must be challenged. If true equality is to be achieved, media organisations must recognise and reward talent based on merit, not gender.
One undeniable truth I have come to realise is this: gender inequality in the media is not just real, it is systemic. This year’s International Women’s Day theme calls for accelerated action, and the media industry must not be left out. It’s time to break these barriers and create a newsroom culture where talent, not gender, determines leadership.
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‘I worked tirelessly, producing articles, yet the recognition from her never came’
I had worked as a freelance journalist under my former boss the then Education editor. At that time the newsroom was the kind that bustled with the constant hum of deadlines and reporters racing against time. I had come in full of ambition, eager to carve out my place in the industry. It felt like a dream come true at first, but soon, the dream began to twist.
My boss was a woman with a sharp tongue and eyes that seemed to cut through everything. She was nothing like the supportive figure I had hoped for. From the beginning, she never made me feel like a true part of the team and nothing I did was good in her sight. Despite my consistent work, the praise was absent, and any small mistake felt magnified. My appointment, which was supposed to be a confirmation of my worth in the organization never came to be while she was there. She even went to the length of ensuring that the appointment of my colleague ( who came after me to the company), was confirmed just to further spite me.
Weeks turned into a few years, and I felt the weight of her silent disapproval pressing down on me. I worked tirelessly, producing articles, yet the recognition from her never came. Even when I decided to pursue a Master’s degree it further infuriated her and she spoke ill of me (she only had a PGD at the time).
She kept me dangling on the edge of uncertainty, making me question whether my contributions mattered at all. The constant emotional toll began to build, and I could feel the seeds of doubt creeping into my mind. Was I good enough for this job? Or was I just a placeholder in her eyes, a freelancer she could use at will without the commitment of truly valuing me? This was the major reason I decided to pursue a master’s degree.
The silence from her was deafening. She never acknowledged my hard work, and each interaction with her left me feeling smaller and invisible. The lack of confirmation on my appointment made it seem like I was always one step away from being replaced. As deadlines loomed and my self-esteem crumbled, the weight of this emotional battle began to feel overwhelming. I could feel my energy draining, my passion for the job was almost waning, and my hope slipping through my fingers. The loneliness of being a freelancer in a large, cold newsroom where I wasn’t truly seen started to gnaw at me. I was depressed at this time, until one day. With the grace of God, she was given the boot by the chairman of the organization due to an article she wrote that did not go down well with him.
After she had left, I went to meet the MD of the organization on my confirmation. My former boss had spoken badly about me to him. He told me instantly ” We are not employing”. However, as God will have it. I went to see his DMD who is more compassionate. He asked me to submit my CV and other credentials. This was on a Wednesday. The following Monday, I was at my desk as usual putting together an article when the secretary to the MD came downstairs with my confirmation letter as a staff after eight years as a freelancer. I was more than happy. Slowly, I started to rebuild and I learned to define my worth on my terms, not by the whims of a wicked boss who never saw the value in me.
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READ ALSO: IWD 2025: Time to accelerate action on gender gaps in newsrooms
‘You are senseless’
Mine is not gender discrimination, it’s a senior colleague who is so abusive. She abuses you at every opportunity she has because she feels she is above.
I remember her telling me that I don’t have sense and home training and many other things that are so demeaning that would even want to make you stop coming to the office.
It is a very terrible situation.
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‘My boss never approved any request I made to him that had to do with the programme I anchor’
Just days after Pamela* joined a prominent radio station in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, last August, her immediate boss, the station’s programme director, called her to his office. “I just finished presenting a programme in the evening when he entered the studio and ordered me to his office,” she says.
When Pamela arrived at her boss’s office half an hour later, she found him seated on his chair with a bottle of whiskey on his desk. Then came an embarrassing invitation from her boss the 26-year-old journalist says she never saw coming.
“He looked straight at me and told me to come sit on his lap,” she says. “I told him straight away that I couldn’t do that.”
Pamela said her boss kept insisting but she turned him down each time he demanded she sit on his lap. “When he saw that I wasn’t ready to play along, he got up from his chair, put his hands around my waist and tried to hug me but I pushed him away and walked out of the office.”
Pamela’s boss never attempted to sexually assault her again after that incident but his attitude towards her changed afterwards. “He never said hello to me again and never approved any request I made to him that had to do with the programme I anchor.”
Pamela isn’t alone when it comes to female journalists facing sexual harassment from their superiors or colleagues at work.
Culled from : https://institute.aljazeera.net/en/ajr/article/2124