An Analytical Study of the Gendering of News Sources in Nigerian Print Journalism

The persistent gender imbalance in journalism's reliance on male sources reflects and reinforces broader gender inequalities in public life, and systematic analysis of source gendering in Nigerian print journalism provides important evidence for editorial reform advocacy. This study analytically examined the gendering of news sources in Nigerian print journalism. A systematic content analysis was conducted on 1,200 news articles sampled from four national daily newspapers (Punch, Guardian, Daily Trust, and Vanguard) across a six-month period, stratified by news section (politics, business, health, sports, culture, and crime). Each source cited in sampled articles was coded for gender, professional role, and source type (official, expert, witness, civil society). Results showed that male sources constituted 78.6 percent of all cited sources across the sampled articles. In political and business sections, female source representation dropped to 13.4 percent and 16.2 percent respectively. Female sources were cited most frequently in health sections (38.4 percent) and crime victim contexts. Expert sources were gendered most extremely, with women constituting only 14.8 percent of expert quotes. Daily Trust showed the most extreme source gender disparity, while Punch showed the most balanced sourcing patterns. The study fills a systematic empirical gap in Nigerian source diversity research and provides the most comprehensive quantitative evidence base yet assembled for advocacy campaigns targeting editorial source diversification policies at Nigerian national newspapers.

Keywords: news sources, gender and journalism, source diversity, Nigerian newspapers, content analysis