The past years have witnessed growing mediatization of politics in West African countries in line with global trends. Political coverage has taken centre stage in media reporting, accounting for more than half of all media content. Citizens' political awareness has increased significantly, and so has media power as audiences rely heavily on the media as the dominant space for the formation of political opinions and attitudes. Political platforms in the media have opened up phenomenally, creating more opportunities and options for political actors and citizens. There is an unholy alliance between the media and politicians in which the very people the media are supposed to be demanding accountability from own the means by which this is to be done.
Using Strömbäck’s (2008) model of mediatization, this paper presents results of content analysis of four newspapers in Ghana and Nigeria, which examined the linguistic and visual representations of female politicians. This is complemented by elite interviews of journalists and female politicians. It explores the benefits and constraints that mediatization offers in relation to the media’s democratic mandate of inclusion of all voices in the public space. The paper argues that mediatization of politics is inimical for democracy as it marginalizes important political actors such as female politicians. It’s adherence to the concept of media logic means that political actors who do not conform remain at the margins of media spaces, limiting the range of political views available to citizens. This raises questions not only about the media's credibility and independence, but also about shifts in the political process and their implications for Africa's ability to meet the Sustainable development goal of gender parity in politics. This paper therefore aims to open up discussions on this growing phenomenon in West Africa.