[NYTr] Arab Female Journalists Stand Up for Press Freedom

Mon Jul 23 16:45:45 EDT 2007

Womens eNews - Jul 22, 2007
http://www.womensenews.org

Arab Female Journalists Stand Up for Press Freedom

By Rita Henley Jensen
Editor in Chief

AMMAN, Jordan (WOMENSENEWS)--Freedom of the press and women's equality
can be characterized as culturally invasive concepts in much of the
Arab world.

The region is dominated by nations that are still ruled by kings and
queens and governed by religious leaders who advocate enforcement of
gender-specific roles and clothing. Moreover, the region's violent
conflicts have taken the lives of 19 journalists and three news media
workers so far in 2007, according to reports by the New York-based
Committee to Protect Journalists.

As the sole media representative from a Western nation attending the
sixth annual conference of the Arab Women Media Center for 60 female
Arab journalists on press freedom and gender equity within the media, I
assumed I should behave with circumspection so as not to offend. I also
expected the other attendees to do likewise.

That misapprehension was quickly put to rest by the laughter and voices
raised in song that filled the bus one night as it left the conference
center, taking us all to dinner at an authentic Jordan open-air
restaurant.

A radio journalist from Palestine knew the words of traditional songs
and she led the other 20 or so in the back of the bus in one song after
another, each one a little bit louder and each one causing a little
more laughter. She then began clapping and the others began clapping
too, with the sheer joy of being together. Then high-pitched ululating
started and all clapped, ululated, laughed and sang for the 30-minute
ride to the restaurant.

Nothing was muffled or subdued about this group, chosen from among 450
print reporters, broadcast news producers and on-air talent, and
Internet journalists from the 22 Arab-speaking nations. The attendees,
mostly between ages 25 to 35, spent three days in late June in Jordan
to consider issues rich in complexity for their profession, their
nations, their religion and their gender.

Code of Ethics

Often working in male-dominated newsrooms where their opinions are not
solicited, these reporters and broadcast producers--some in veils and
abayas, others in jeans and T-shirts--were asked to craft a code of
ethics for all journalists in the region--not just women--consistent
with international conventions.

Without seeming daunted by the cultural, legal, religious, economic or
violent barriers that stand in the way, the women came up with their
code. Such gatherings of Arabic journalists are relatively rare:
Organizations for news media professionals exist in 12 Arab nations,
but calls for greater press access and freedom still require bravery.
The Arab journalism ethics code, dating to 1972, ignores the context in
which news professional operate and focuses more on a narrow vision of
the obligation of journalists, including "perform my work honestly and
truthfully, keep professional secrets, abide by its regulations and
traditions and defend its dignity."

In contrast, the ethics code adopted here stands up to the growing
religious fervor, rising controversies over the roles of women and
ethnic divides in the Arab world and calls on all journalists within
the region "to respect the pluralism, accept the other opinion and not
to discriminate based on religion, race, color, sex or culture."

Candid talk in intense sideline conversations about the restrictions
they face--both as journalists and as women working in the Arab
states--were a major part of the process. Many of these conversations
were in English, the language of international media.

"We are only permitted 20 licenses for newspapers. How can there be
freedom of the press?" a journalist from Lebanon quietly complained to
a colleague during a session.

"All is peaceful and calm where I live. But I couldn't write anything
critical of a government minister, because that would be critical of
His Highness because he appointed him. And even if I wrote it, my
newspaper wouldn't publish it," a print reporter from the Gulf region
said with a sigh during a bus trip.

Questioning Their Own Rights

Sessions on gender bias spurred women to question both their
professional freedom and their own human rights as female employees and
citizens.

Was it ethical for an employer to bar a veiled journalist from
appearing on television?

Should the ethics code deal with sexual harassment of journalists or
domestic violence?

During a discussion of the rights and responsibilities of journalists,
a reporter for a Palestinian radio station, Amal Jumah Khamis, brought
up the law in her homeland that regulated women's work hours.

"I am a feminist and I can't work past 8 o'clock," she complained,
clearly frustrated.

Another radio broadcaster, Shoaa Al-Kaate from Kuwait, joined in,
clearly distraught about a law passed the week of the conference.
"Under the new law, I could be arrested if I work past eight," she said
with visible resentment and apprehension.

Whenever they got together, the conference participants offered glaring
examples of gender discrimination at the hands of employers and
colleagues.

Women spoke about not being allowed to leave the office for
assignments; men taking credit for the work women do; men being paid
travel expenses when they are on assignment, but not women; women being
required to wear the hijab--the veil--while at work; men receiving
preferential assignments; female journalists being refused a passport
to travel for work; female journalists being looked on as less
desirable as a marriage partner; and of course, receiving lower pay and
being passed over for promotions.

"Women are always thought to be inferior," sighed one.

That may have been true outside the hotel walls, but for three days in
Amman, these journalists held the high ground by standing up for
women's rights and freedom of the press for all news media in the
region.

Mahassen Al Emam Presides

Presiding over this conference was Mahassen Al Emam, a chain-smoking,
Helen Thomas like figure who jubilantly read aloud at the closing
ceremony the ethics code that was adopted.

In 1994, Al Emam became the first female editor in chief of a newspaper
in Jordan, a nation that borders Syria, Iraq and Israel. After Al Emam
was elected to the board of the journalists union three years later,
she tried to create a path for other women to follow her into
journalism. The board rejected her suggestions to set up training
courses and scholarships for female journalists. Taking matters into
her own hands, in 1999, she established the Arab Women Media Center
here in Amman, taking out a large personal loan to renovate the house
that was to serve as its headquarters.

The center has continued to grow in influence and recognition. Al Emam
was given the 2002 Knight International Press Fellowship Award and this
year the center now receives substantial support from
Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, a German political foundation that supports
political dialogue, media and the rule of law. She also now operates
under the official patronage of Jordan's Royal Highness Princess Basma
Bint Talal, the aunt of the current king, Abdullah bin Al-Hussein.

In fact, this conference and the attendees were so energizing that Gaby
Lteif, a Paris-based radio interviewer who is revered throughout the
region, declared that she had enough fame, enough material goods, that
she was now committed to attending each year and serving as a mentor
for the women coming behind her.

Her relative security and prominence has not dimmed Al Emam's fierce
vision for press freedom and gender equity.

She works closely with the Tunisia-based Center for Arab Women for
Training and Research that last year produced a report that said media
had "become a key actor" in the field of women's human rights in the
region "given their effects and impacts on the world's various
societies." The center is now training female journalists throughout
the Arab region about avoiding gender stereotypes in news coverage,
many of whom attended the conference.

For more information:

Arab Women Media Center Code of Ethics: -
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/3249

Arab Women Media Center (English): -
http://www.ayamm.org/english/index.htm

Arab Women Media Center (Arabic): - http://www.ayamm.org/arabic/

Center for Arab Women for Training and Research: -
http://www.cawtar.org/