Examination of Newspaper Coverage of Women in Politics in Anambra State

This study examines how Anambra State newspapers cover female political candidates and officeholders, assessing whether coverage patterns support or undermine gender parity in politics. Women remain dramatically underrepresented in Nigerian politics, and media coverage practices are widely theorised to play a role in this exclusion by focusing on appearance, family roles, and personality rather than policy positions and qualifications. This study applies quantitative content analysis to political coverage in two widely read Anambra State newspapers, The Trumpet and AnambraPOST, over a 12-month election campaign cycle. A coding instrument assesses story placement, story initiation, topic focus (policy versus personal), descriptive language used for male versus female candidates, and visual representation. A survey of 160 Anambra voters assesses how newspaper coverage influences their perceptions of female candidates. Findings reveal significant disparities between coverage of male and female candidates. Female candidates receive 28 percent of total political coverage despite constituting 34 percent of candidates. Female candidate coverage focuses on appearance and family status in 52 percent of stories, compared to 11 percent for male candidates. Voter survey reveals that appearance-focused coverage significantly reduces perceived political competence of female candidates among both male and female readers. The study concludes that Anambra State newspaper coverage actively disadvantages female political candidates through biased representational practices. It recommends gender-sensitive journalism guidelines and newsroom gender audits for Anambra print media.

Keywords: newspaper coverage, women in politics, Anambra State, gender bias, media representation.