SECTOR 4 social group, gender/sex, religion, disabilities and age are promoted in media house Inclusion is a work in progress within the Nigerian media. Over the years, news organisations have taken steps, usually with the prompting of NGOs, to mainstream issues such as gender and disability rights in their workplaces and reporting. The number of women in newsrooms has increased significantly, particularly in the audio-visual sector. However, this growth has not been accompanied by high rates of women occupancy in managerial and senior editorial positions. Newsrooms tend to prefer young single women over married women, one panellist said, because that means less absenteeism. In community radio stations there are generally more women than men. Panellists said religion-based discrimination was more common than other forms of discrimination in the media. Faith-based news organisations only recruit from among their faith. Indeed, ‘religious considerations are sometimes placed above competence,’ a panellist said. Government-funded media have an obligation to serve all social interests irrespective of ethnicity, religion and physical condition. Therefore, they take deliberate steps to represent all major groups and cater for the interests of all ages. By and large, the NTA has more female journalists than men, many of whom anchor primetime newscasts. Scores: Individual scores: 52 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator ✓ ✓✓ ✓ ✓ ✓✓✓ Average score: Score of previous years: 2.8 2008: n/a; 2011: 2.5; 2015: 3.3 Overall Score for Sector 4: 3.2 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER NIGERIA 2019 ✓ ✓ ✓