PROJECT NEWS

Research launch: Safety of Women Journalists in Ghana and Nigeria

7 May 2026

Meet the researchers who are producing a mapping report on how the physical, digital and mental safety of women journalists is understood and applied across the Nigerian and Ghanaian media landscapes.

A new research‑driven initiative has been launched in response to escalating safety threats facing women journalists in Ghana and Nigeria. The research is part of PMA’s project, Covid’s Legacy: The Role of African Media in Keeping Women Journalists Safe, funded by UNESCO IPDC.  

As newsrooms continue to navigate the long‑term impacts of Covid‑19, the project seeks to produce critical evidence on how physical safety, digital security, and mental wellbeing are currently protected, and where urgent action is still required. Women journalists across both Ghana and Nigeria have reported rising levels of online harassment, economic insecurity, and workplace pressures that frequently go unaddressed. While many media organisations have safety policies in place, implementation remains inconsistent. The initiative seeks to bridge the gap between policy and practice. 

At the centre of the project is a qualitative mapping report featuring organisational and country‑level case studies. Using a policies–practices–gaps framework, the study will provide one of the most detailed and comprehensive assessments to date of how duty of care is understood and applied within the region’s media landscape. 

The research will draw on interviews with media managers, focus groups with women journalists, and desk research to contextualise national media environments. Findings will identify existing safety measures, how they function in reality, and where the most significant gaps persist. 

Meet the Research Team

The research is led by a multidisciplinary team with expertise in media safety, gender analysis, digital security, and organisational policy. Their work will guide the project’s capacity‑building phase, ensuring that findings translate into practical, sustainable improvements. 

The research will be delivered by three experienced facilitators: 

• Lead Researcher: Professor Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika, PhD, MNAL, FMNIPR, Department of Mass Communication at the University of Lagos, Nigeria.

• Country Researcher for Ghana: Stephen Tindi, PhD, Institute of Journalism, University of Media, Arts and Communication (Unimac), Ghana. 

• Country Researcher for Nigeria: Dr. Babatunde Adeshina Faustino, PhD, ANIPR, arpa, Department of Mass Communication at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. 

“Joining this PMA initiative is a vital opportunity to address the systemic vulnerabilities female journalists face in the post-pandemic era. My goal is to ensure that our research in Nigeria and Ghana doesn’t just document risks, but actively informs the policies and organisational protocols needed to protect women on the frontlines of truth-telling. For me, securing the safety of female journalists is not merely a gender issue; it is a fundamental requirement for the health of our democracy.” 

“True democratic transparency is impossible if the voices of women journalists are silenced by safety concerns or systemic neglect. In joining the Public Media Alliance for this vital project, my goal is to move beyond mere observation and toward actionable, evidence-based communication frameworks that protect female reporters in a post-pandemic world. By interrogating the intersection of media ethics and gender-responsive policy, we aren’t just protecting individuals; we are actively strengthening the narrative of civic engagement and ensuring that the guardians of our truth can work without fear.” 

“I am pleased to be part of this project, as the safety of journalists remains a critical yet often overlooked aspect of media development. Female journalists, in particular, face distinct risks both in the field and within newsroom environments, many of which are insufficiently understood. I strongly support the project’s approach of first undertaking context-specific research to better understand these challenges, followed by targeted training interventions. This strategy has significant potential to enhance the safety and professional well-being of female journalists in Ghana.”

Building Safer, More Resilient Newsrooms

This initiative arrives at a pivotal moment. As online hostility, political pressures, and economic instability continue to reshape the media landscape, women journalists remain disproportionately exposed to risk. By grounding interventions in rigorous, country‑specific evidence, the project aims to support news organisations in building stronger, more responsive duty‑of‑care systems. 

The mapping report will provide a foundation for long‑term change equipping media organisations, partners, and journalists themselves with the insights needed to create safer, more resilient newsrooms across Ghana and Nigeria.