- The glass ceiling has shifted to a “cyber ceiling” as women journalists increasingly face misogyny, harassment and coordinated online attacks.
- Progress for black women in newsroom leadership has stalled, with the gains seen after the 2013 State of the Newsroom report failing to continue.
- Online abuse is contributing to women leaving journalism, with some moving into government, starting businesses or exiting the profession altogether.
- AI could intensify online abuse against women, particularly because it operates in an unregulated environment where misinformation can spread easily and coordinated attacks can be scaled.
- The 2026 Glass Ceilings report broadens the conversation beyond gender, examining race, LGBTQIA+ inclusion, socioeconomic inequality and community media alongside women’s representation and leadership.
Eight years after the publication of the landmark Glass Ceilings report in 2018, the picture for women in South African journalism has not improved. According to media academic Professor Glenda Daniels, many of the gains that once appeared within reach have stalled and in some cases, gone into reverse.
“When we published the previous report, the challenge wasn’t getting women into newsrooms but getting them into positions of power,” Daniels says. “That hasn’t changed. If anything, quite the reverse.”
The 2026 Glass Ceilings report was designed to check the progress of gender equality in South African media. Instead of documenting steady advances, Daniels says the research uncovered what she describes as “complete backsliding”.
“The whole point of Glass Ceilings is a progress report. What kind of progress are we making as women, against sexism, towards our Constitution, diversity and plurality? That’s why we do this research. But what we’ve seen is a complete backsliding, an anti-feminist backlash.”
For Daniels, the metaphor that has shaped decades of conversations about women in leadership no longer fully captures the challenge.
“The glass ceiling has shifted to the cyber ceiling,” she says.
Explosion of misogyny
That shift reflects the explosion of misogyny and organised abuse on social media, where women journalists increasingly find themselves targeted simply for doing their jobs.
“There’s a free-for-all on the internet,” Daniels says. “Groups coalesce around very right-wing, manosphere interests and people begin to believe conspiracy theories such as women are taking away their power. Of course that’s not true.
“All we’re fighting for is equality. That’s what feminism means to most of us.”
Women occupying visible positions in journalism appear to carry the greatest burden.
“The women who are already out there – in politics, investigations, opinion, as editors – are the ones who receive the most backlash,” Daniels says.
The report suggests that what appeared to be an emerging issue in 2018 has now become the defining challenge facing women journalists. “In 2018 we introduced a new chapter on cyber misogyny and wondered whether it would become a trend. It most certainly has.”
The findings are stark. Of the 111 women surveyed, 75% identified cyber misogyny as the biggest problem they face.
“That was the highest percentage across every question in the survey,” Daniels says. “Back in 2018 people thought, ‘Maybe it’s a problem.’ Today it’s full-on.”
Ironically, she says, artificial intelligence may currently occupy a similar position in public thinking.
“When we asked women about AI as a future threat, relatively few thought it was a major issue. That’s exactly where cyber misogyny was in 2018. Now it’s become the biggest threat.”
Brutal backlash
While women continue to dominate reporting roles in many newsrooms, Daniels says representation has not translated into influence.
“Women still seem to be the majority as reporters,” she says. “But you can’t equate women’s numbers with women’s voices. Reporters are still at the bottom of the realm of power.”
Senior editorial leadership remains overwhelmingly male.
“The positions of power – news editors, editors, managing editors, media owners and boards – are still not where women are.”
Unlike the 2018 study, researchers did not attempt to gather management statistics directly from media companies.
“The majority of companies simply did not want to provide those figures last time,” Daniels explains. “They also didn’t want to open their books on the gender pay gap. We decided not to waste our time and instead asked women directly. Their answer was clear: nothing has changed.”
Daniels believes women remain concentrated in middle management rather than executive leadership.
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