As the world marked World Press Freedom Day 2026 on May 3, under the theme “Shaping a Future at Peace: Promoting Press Freedom for Human Rights, Development, and Security,” Cameroonian journalist Dr. Olive Ejang sent a special message to female journalists across the country, urging them to turn personal and professional challenges into fuel for courage, integrity, and balanced reporting.
My dear Sisters in Journalism,
Today, on World Press Freedom Day, I greet you with a heart that knows your struggle and a voice that has lived it.
For 23 years I have practiced this profession in Cameroon. In those years I have faced attempted rape in the field, been detained for asking hard questions, molested at press briefings, and battered for refusing to kill a story.
I carry those scars. But I also carry my press card, my byline, and my dignity. I am still standing. And so will you.
To overcome, we must first name the challenges. As women journalists in Cameroon, we battle harassment in newsrooms and on assignment. We face unequal pay, limited promotion, and the constant suggestion that politics, conflict, and investigation are “not for women.”
Many of us are mothers, wives, daughters, told to choose between family and the front page. Some of us have been threatened, followed, or silenced.
Sisters, do not let these walls define your newsroom. Document the abuse. Report the threat. Lean on your sisters and on the law. Your safety is not the price of your story. Build networks, mentor the young ones, and refuse to apologize for being a woman with a microphone or a camera.
But while we fight, we must also guard the profession. That is where media balance comes in. Our pain does not give us permission to abandon fairness. Cameroon is fragile and diverse. Every region, language, and political view deserves context, not caricature. Balance means we verify before we publish. It means we give space to the voices we disagree with. It means we separate our trauma from our reporting, so our lived experience makes us fearless, not reckless.
After 23 years, here is what I know: They can seize your recorder, but not your truth. They can bruise your body, but not your credibility. If I survived detention cells and hospital beds and still made deadline, you can walk into that council hall tomorrow and ask the question they fear.
So on this World Press Freedom Day,
I charge you:
- Protect yourself: Know your rights, travel in pairs when you must, and speak out.
- Protect the story: Be accurate, be fair, and be fearless.
- Protect the next woman: Open the door wider than you found it.
We are not victims. We are witnesses. And Cameroon needs our witness.
Keep writing. Keep broadcasting. Keep standing.
In solidarity and sisterhood,
Dr. Olive Ejang Tebug
Divisional Delegate of Communication, Kupe Muanenguba Journalist/Sociologist
