Media Portrayals, Public Perceptions and Women in Administrative Leadership in Jos South Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria

The main objective of this study is to investigate how media portrays the public perceptions of women in administrative leadership in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria. Arising from the Beijing affirmative action on gender and the increasing advocacy for gender inclusion, women in local administrative leadership continue to experience underrepresentation and gender-based stereotypes reinforced by media narratives. This study relied on both quantitative and qualitative research designs. The research design adopted content analysis, descriptive survey, and in-depth interviews. From a population of 650,835, a sample of 384 residents, 12 female administrative leaders, and selected media platforms, including KT FM, NewsGate Magazine, and the “Come to Jos South” Facebook page. The researchers adopted descriptive statistics like Chisquare analysis, independent t-tests and content analysis for the analyses of data. From the analyses of data, the findings revealed that social media significantly influences negative public perceptions of female leaders through gendered and personalised framing. Whereas, respondents had generally acknowledged women’s administrative competence (Mean = 4.1), however, the perceptions of their political legitimacy remained comparatively low (Mean = 3.2). Statistical analysis showed a significant relationship between media source and perceptions of leadership legitimacy (χ² = 18.7, p < .001). The study concluded that social media framing contributes substantially to the perception disconnect affecting women leaders in Jos South LGA. It was recommended among others that the Plateau State Ministry of Information should organize gendered sensitive media training on regular bases for journalists and social media content creators on gender-sensitive reporting practices. It was also recommended that Strategic Media Engagement should be organized for female administrators thereby supporting in developing professional media communication strategies that highlight policy achievements and governance outcomes.

Keywords: Women leadership; media framing; public perception; gender stereotypes; local government administration; Jos South LGA