LEADERSHIP Emerges Runner-Up In ReportHer Award For Gender-balanced Reporting

LEADERSHIP Newspaper has emerged runner up in the print category at the maiden edition of ReportHer Awards for gender-balanced reporting.

The event which yesterday in Ikeja, Lagos was attended by many dignitaries in the Nigerian media industry.  

The general manager, Southern Operations, LEADERSHIP, Chima Akwaja, who received the award on behalf of the company, thanked the organisers for beaming their searchlight and recognising the works of media houses in providing balanced reporting on women, pledging that the award would motivate the company to do more. 

ReportHer Awards is a gender-balanced reportage awards that recognises media organisations and journalists who actively report on women, give prime time to them and strive for gender- balanced reportage.

The awards is an initiative of Women Radio 91.7 in partnership with the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism with support from UNWomen and the government of Canada.

In the print category,  Blueprint Newspapers emerged the overall winner.  In the television category, Arise News emerged winner, while AIT was the runner up. In the radio category, Voice of Nigeria emerged winner, while Sparkling 92.3 FM emerged runner up.

In the digital category, TechCabal emerged winner, while Ripples Nigeria emerged runner up. On the journalists category, Titilope Fadare of Premium Times emerged winner while Ene Oshaba of Blueprint Online emerged  runner up. 

The awards seek to recognise the representation of women, address the need for an objective and gender sensitive reporting and encourage gender balanced reportage which is essential to nation building. 

106 entries were received.

The chief executive officer, Women Radio 91.7, Toun Okewale Sonaiya, in her welcome address, said the media remained the most powerful tool in shaping public perception and can make the public perceive women more by giving adequate coverage, using more women as sources, analysts, guests and giving them primetime as their male counterparts. 

“The collective and deliberate effort of the media is changing female narratives, altering stereotypes and closing gender imbalances and we are experiencing more visibility and reportage of women.

“While we thank the media for the efforts made so far in reporting women, we should aim for a 50:50 balanced reportage by deliberately making women an integral part of editorials and features,” she said. 

UN Women country representative to Nigeria, Ms. Beatrice Eyong, extolled the Nigerian media for placing women on the spotlight, adding that the media played active roles during the 2023 Nigerian elections in reporting female politicians.