Nigerian Newspapers and Opinion Columns: Where are the Muted Female Voices?
Keywords:
Gender Equality, Newspaper columns, Nigerian Newspapers, Columnists, Opinion pagesAbstract
This study examined male dominance and female placement in the Nigerian newspaper columns and opinion pages. Content analysis was employed to analyse the opinion and column pages published by major 14 Nigerian newspapers (The Vanguard, The Punch, The Guardian, This Day, The Sun, Leadership, The Nation, New Telegraph, Daily Trust, Nigerian Tribune, People's Gazette, The Cable, Premium Times, and Sahara Reporters). The study adopted a purposive sampling in identifying each column or page, including articles written by newspaper staff, regular columnists and contributors. The study codes and analyse contents from three years (June 2020 to July 2023). It is found that there are 232 columns/opinion pages and 572 columnists and opinion writers in the Nigerian newspaper industry. This includes 93 females (15.7%) and 479 (84.3%) males. The researchers conclude that 15.7% of female contributors is manifestly inadequate and proportionally unbalanced to create gender equality and harmony in this aspect of newspaper offering. recommended that newspapers give more space in opinion and op-ed pages to women and they (female) should be encouraged to contribute. It is also proposed that journalism institutions groom male and female students to understand the essence of gender equality in the newsroom and female students in particular be trained to understand their roles in newspaper opinion pages writing.