%L eprints2662
%P 111-129
%A Kehinde Opeyemi Oyesomi
%A Olusola Oyero
%I Cambridge Scholars Publishing
%D 2014
%T Women’s political invisibility in Nigeria and need for Deliberate media agenda
%X Equitable and balanced reporting is crucial to the sustenance of democracy in Nigeria, especially when gender issues are involved. But over the years, advocacy groups have complained of lack of exposure of female politicians, claiming that only their male counterparts get the requisite media coverage. This study examines the claim by studying how well Nigerian newspapers reported women’s participation in 2011 general elections. Contents of two Nigerian daily newspapers (The Punch and The Guardian) were studied over nine months from December, 2010 to August, 2011. Assertion of lack of exposure is proved with only 13 per cent of stories on politics devoted to women. Besides that, 90 per cent of stories on women were published inside the pages. This may not be unconnected with the general problem of women’s invisibility in Nigerian society where the female gender is considered less imperative than male and as such cannot take advantage of several socio-political and economic opportunities. Deliberate media agenda for women offers a possible solution to this challenge.
	
Keywords: Assessment, Elections, Newspapers, Nigeria, Participation, Politics, Visibility, Women.

%V 17
%B Discourse on Media and Women’s (and Minorities) Participation in Politics and Leadership