Building on the successes of Report Women! Initiative in the last 10 years, the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) has shortlisted 12 female journalists for the sixth Female Reporters Leadership Programme (FRLP) Fellowship. This milestone marks the beginning of a renewed commitment to strengthening women’s leadership in newsrooms and amplifying gender-focused investigative journalism in Nigeria.
Chosen from a competitive pool of 160 female applicants, the select journalists include Melony Ishola, Head of Programmes, Video Unit, PUNCH; Aisha Gambo, Senior Correspondent, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN); Jemilat Nasiru, Staff Writer, TheCable; Juliet Buna, reporter and editor, Crest 91.1FM; Bilkis Lawal, reporter and editor, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (Bond FM); Rasheedat Iliyas, Manager, News and Current Affairs, Radio Nigeria Harmony FM; Temitope Obayendo, Online Editor, Pharmanews; Mary Agidi, Features and Opinion Writer, The Hope; Dana Zagi, Gender Lead, Media Trust Group; Chigozie Victor, Senior Editor, Zikoko Citizen, Big Cabal Media; Christiana Alabi-Akande, Managing Editor, Development Reporting Service; and Gloria Attah, news anchor and reporter, Clearview Television.
Through an intensive training and mentoring, this sixth edition of FRLP Fellowship will equip participants with the skills to champion the cause of improved leadership status of women in the news, newsrooms and society. The fellowship and the broader Report Women! News and Newsroom Engagement project has been supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation since 2021. Report Women! News and Newsroom Engagement is designed to engage the management and staff of news media organisations in Nigeria, and eventually Africa, to increase the representation of women in news coverage, newsroom leadership and as sources of news.
Since its inception in 2014, the Report Women! The programme has worked to increase the quantity and quality of reports on issues affecting women and girls in Nigeria. Over the past decade, WSCIJ has trained 537 journalists across Nigeria and Ghana, supported 136 stories and 138 leadership projects, published six research on women’s representation in the media, produced six documentaries, launched a female experts’ source guide and engaged newsrooms on the leadership of women in the news and newsrooms. The Female Reporters Leadership Programme, introduced in 2017, has produced 86 fellows across five cohorts and driven intentional efforts to place more women in leadership positions within newsrooms and news.
