ABSTRACT
Feminist media production research has consistently identified motherhood and childcare as critical issues moderating the status of women journalists and their experience of the news industry. Surprisingly, very few have critically engaged with the politics of maternity leave and its implications on the status and experience of women in the news media. The bulk of the available literature on the impact of motherhood on women journalists has been on the global North with a few allusions to the motherhood and childcare dilemma of women in the African news media. Equally, these studies have focussed on women in news generally without highlighting the peculiar experiences of nursing mothers in the broadcast news media. These are the gaps this chapter fills. Guided by African and liberal feminist theories, this chapter, using archival analysis and interviews, analyses the influences of motherhood on the career experiences of women journalists in the Nigerian broadcast news media. The chapter reviews the maternity leave policies of three radio stations and two television stations in Nigeria. It presents findings from interviews with women broadcast journalists about their experience of the news industry while nursing children. It also interrogates the views of broadcast media managers and human resource administrators about the implications of maternity leave policies and politics on the status and experiences of women in the Nigerian broadcast news media. The chapter presents key findings about how nursing mothers experience the Nigerian broadcast news media and ends with recommendations to help them navigate the period.
