Gate Keeping and the Media: "Keeping Out the Other?” Analysis of a Campus Print Media

Abstract

Given the increasing number of community media, in Nigerian tertiary institutions, this study interrogates the concept of gate keeping under a gender perspective in a community newspaper. The aim of the study is to determine the level of visibility, prominence and representations given to female related issues in a community newspaper (UNIZIK Comet) as well as the extent of female students' participation therein. The researchers content analyzed all UNIZIK Comet productions, comprised of 19 publications, including both newspapers and magazines over a period of 10 years (2003-2012). Findings show that only 112 male students participated in the productions as reporters, against 334 female students out of the total number of 1142 students who entirely produced the magazines and Newspapers. This demonstrates the overriding participation of the female students in the productions as reporters and editors, does not corroborate to gender balance in news content. Contrary to expectations, the voices of women and women related issues remained largely unheard and unseen in the entire publications. It was found that majority of stories that centered on women were features which were all positioned inside pages. The study concludes that emerging commun