Tanele Maseko (pictured) leaves the police station after being summoned by Eswatini police In February 2022, a vehicle that delivers the Times of Eswatini was hijacked and torched by unknown arsonists with the clear aim of intimidating journalists (10). Commendably, a number of women serve as editors of major publications in the country. However, structurally, media ownership is still dominated by men. In 2021, two South African journalists were detained, assaulted, and forced to delete footage of a police shooting victim’s funeral, allegedly by security forces (11). Additionally, the experiences of female journalists in newsrooms are under-researched. According to the Global Investigative Journalism Network, gender discrimination in the workplace is still a major issue in the media sector globally (12) , as such, it is imperative to analyse the evolution of female journalists’ presence in newsrooms, given Eswatini’s patriarchal society, which is characterised by male dominance, oppression of women and traditional roles for women (13). Journalists also face persecution on social media by members of the public who harass them due to perceived non-coverage of prodemocracy issues or perceived support for the regime, regardless of the stance of the news organisations that employ them. There were no credible reports of media violations in 2023. Gender expressions of societal expectations are evident even in political spaces. When Tanele Maseko, the widow of the slain human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko, accepted an award at Gender and the media 35 STATE OF PRESS FREEDOM IN SOUTHERN AFRICA 2023