As the world marks International Women’s Day 2025, the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) has reaffirmed its commitment to promoting gender-inclusive newsrooms as a cornerstone of accountability journalism.
In a statement released on March 8, WSCIJ Executive Director/CEO Motunrayo Alaka emphasized the need for media organizations to bridge the gender gap in leadership and news representation.
Citing findings from WSCIJ’s report, “Who Leads the Newsrooms and the News?”, Alaka highlighted the significant disparities in gender representation, with women holding only 25.7% of leadership positions in surveyed media organizations.
The report also revealed that women are underrepresented in news content, featuring in just 7.1% of news stories and making up 12.1% of expert sources. This lack of representation limits women’s voices in policymaking, governance, and social change.
To address these imbalances, WSCIJ has launched initiatives such as the Report Women! Programme, which aims to promote gender equality in newsrooms and news content.
The program has trained over 537 journalists, produced 86 female fellows, and supported 138 newsroom leadership projects focused on women and girls.
WSCIJ is calling on media owners, publishers, managers, journalists, policymakers, and civil society members to drive structural change towards accountability journalism through gender equality.
This includes promoting gender-balanced hiring and leadership advancement, creating safer and more inclusive workplaces, increasing the visibility of women in news coverage, and supporting training and leadership development for female journalists.
As the world celebrates International Women’s Day 2025, WSCIJ remains committed to championing accountability journalism that promotes equity between men and women in the practice and content of journalism.
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