Womentorship

A roar for freedom

At the 10 on Brooke Boutique Hotel in Bulawayo, the atmosphere was charged with more than just the hum of conversation. It was alive with the weight of history in the making. For three days, / women from across Zimbabwe gathered under the banner of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, not just to learn, but to reclaim their place in an industry that has, for decades, muffled their voices and overlooked their power. This was no ordinary mentorship program. To the women who filled the hall, it was freedom. It was validation. It was a declaration that female journalists are not just participants in the media; they are leaders, innovators, and truth-bearers.

Beyond training: A movement of freedom

Womentorship was a stirring reminder that empowerment in journalism is not only about sharpening skills in print, radio, television, or digital platforms. It is about daring to be fearless, standing resilient in the face of newsroom politics, and cultivating the specialised expertise that transforms women into industry leaders. Now in its fourth year, the Womentorship Journalism Programme has empowered over 450 aspiring female journalists and equipped them with critical skills spanning photojournalism, fact-checking, financial reporting, political coverage, multimedia production, digital entrepreneurship, and AI tools. As participants exchanged stories of challenges and triumphs, the underlying theme was clear: mentorship is not merely guidance, it is liberation. It is creating a world where a young female reporter in the rural areas can dream of becoming the next trailblazing investigative journalist, where a digital storyteller from Bulawayo can envision herself shaping national policy debates through her reporting.

Role models: The architects of change

Faith Zaba, editor of the Zimbabwe Independent and the first woman to hold such a post at the publication and at a national level, stood as living proof of resilience. With quiet authority, she reminded the room that personal branding is not vanity but survival. “When women occupy leadership positions, we gain the power to tell women’s stories, the stories often erased or overshadowed,” she said. Zaba’s journey, breaking through barriers to sit in a chair once reserved for men, mirrored the struggles of many in the room. Her voice carried not just experience but a warning: “If we don’t tell our stories, who will? And if they are told without us, whose truth will they reflect?”

Alongside her, editors such as Victoria Ruzvidzo of The Herald and Anne Mpalume of Daily News (visuals) demonstrated the impact of female leadership. Their presence was more than symbolic; it was evidence of what the next generation could achieve.

Fact-checking as resistance

On the final day, Lifaqane Nare, a fact-checking specialist from FactCheckZW, drilled participants on one of journalism’s most critical but overlooked tools: verification. In an era of disinformation, Nare reminded the cohort that fact-checking is not just technical, it is a form of resistance. “Truth is the foundation of journalism, and for women, holding onto that truth is revolutionary,” she said.

Her session equipped the mentees with practical tools, but more importantly, with the courage to safeguard the credibility of their work in a world where women’s voices are too often questioned or dismissed.

The power of the missing half: The global picture

Global Editorial Leadership: In March, the Reuters Institute reported that women occupy only 27% of top editorial roles across 240 news outlets in 12 global markets. This represents a mere 3% increase compared to the previous year, highlighting the painfully slow progress.

The Sluggish Pace of Change: Over the past five years, the percentage of women in top editorial positions has risen only from 23% in 2020 to 27% in 2025.

Leadership Gaps: The 2024 WIN Leadership Mapping Report further reveals stagnation in editorial leadership, with women holding 30% of roles in both 2022 and 2024. In business leadership, the gap is even wider, with women representing just 18% of top positions.

The Unheard Majority: Women make up half of the world’s population but receive only 26% of media coverage, according to the latest UN-backed Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) report, the world’s largest study on gender representation in news media.

The Local Picture: According to a 2022 article in The Herald, out of the 3,647 accredited journalists in Zimbabwe, 2,804 are men while only 843 are women—starkly illustrating the imbalance in representation at home. The Womentorship workshop is an active rebuttal to these statistics. By fostering a powerful sisterhood and equipping these future leaders with specialised skills, the FNF Womentorship is not just addressing a professional need but a democratic one: to ensure that the media truly reflects the diversity of the society it serves. This movement is a force for journalistic excellence, an engine for genuine freedom, and a commitment to ensuring that the next generation of female storytellers will not be silenced or marginalised.

Finding a voice through Womentorship

For Patience Matono, a student at Midlands State University, the workshop was more than a career building experience; it was a turning point. “I came here doubting myself. Sometimes in class, I felt like my questions were silly, like maybe journalism wasn’t for me. But here, surrounded by these women, I realised my voice matters. My story matters. And if I don’t tell it, someone else will, and they may not tell it right.” Patience’s words captured the heart of the program. Beyond technical skills, the workshop was about community, solidarity, and nurturing a new generation of women who will not only survive but thrive in journalism, thus rewriting the narrative of a male-dominated industry.

Mentorship as a catalyst for change

Mentorship, the facilitators argued, is not about creating carbon copies of established journalists but about moulding unique voices that reflect the diversity of women’s experiences. By shaping confident, resilient, and fearless journalists, the Womentorship program aims to influence not just newsrooms, but society itself. When women tell stories, they do not just fill pages or screens, they reshape narratives, spotlight the marginalised, and influence policies. They hold leaders accountable, redefine what leadership looks like, and open doors for others to follow. The Bulawayo gathering was a seed. And as these women return to their newsrooms, communities, and platforms, the echoes of what was sown there will ripple into headlines, broadcasts, and podcasts across Zimbabwe and beyond.

More than a workshop

The Womentorship was not about certificates or networking; it was about shifting paradigms. It was about declaring that women in journalism are not tokens to be celebrated once a year, but forces that shape the very fabric of democracy.

At the heart of it all was freedom: the freedom to tell untold stories, to shatter glass ceilings, to fact check , and to lead with integrity. And in that freedom lies the future of journalism, balanced, inclusive, and fearless.