http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=95789&d=4&m=5&y=2007
Friday, 4, May, 2007 (16, Rabi` al-Thani, 1428)
Rights of Women Journalists Discussed
Sheikha Al-Dosary & Najah Alosaimi, Arab News
RIYADH, 4 May 2007 - The issue concerning the rights of Saudi
women journalists dominated the Second Women's Media Forum that ended here
yesterday.
The forum, "Media Vision for Economic Horizons," decided that
a letter drafted by journalists and media representatives would be handed to
Princess Adela bint Abdullah, the patron of the forum, which she would give to
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah seeking his help to end
injustice and solve the problems of women journalists. The letter would
document all the problems they face in their profession.
"The forum comes after the huge success of the previous one
that took the first step in holding a progressive media dialogue," said
Princess Adela.
Journalists and media representatives from inside and outside
the Kingdom attended the forum. Attendance with more than 200 women was
comparatively less than last year's forum.
Princess Adela commended Saudi women journalists for
highlighting the role of Saudi women in economic development. "Women contribute
a lot to the economic development," she said. "We appreciate the efforts of
women journalists in projecting Saudi women's role in economic development, I
wish that this forum would work to resolve the problems and issues facing them."
The session yesterday began with a paper presented by Suzan
Al-Qulini, head of the media college at Ein Shams University and a media
consultant in Egypt.
Her paper discussed the Arab media's role within the
political, economic and cultural spheres. She mentioned the kinds of censorship
the media face and their negative effects.
She stressed the need to reconsider the role played by the
Arab media and the importance of merging with the techno-community in order to
access all the technical and scientific achievements of the modern age.
Ali Al-Eliayni, another speaker, discussed the advertisement
industry and its positive and negative effects on the Arab and Saudi media. He
said that the size of the advertisement market points to the increasing size of
the media. He also criticized its social role.
Sabriya Jawhar, the head of the women's department at the
Saudi Gazette, presented a paper discussing the rights of women journalists in
media establishments.
She spoke about the women journalists' situation at their
workplace and the problems they face: working without any privileges or rights,
poor salaries and lack of financial acknowledgement of their work. She also
highlighted cases of women working without contracts, facing humiliation and
risks of losing jobs.
Her paper also discussed the issue of women working as
full-time journalists for many years, covering events with their personal
expenses without getting any reimbursements.
Maha Akeel, the managing editor of the OIC's magazine, The
Journal, who also writes for Arab News, presented a paper on the obstacles in
specialized media and journalism. She raised the issue of segregation against
women journalists and how it negatively affects the image of the society. She
called for setting up a journalism college for women and launching training
courses and programs in media institutions.
Other papers presented discussed several other topics, such
as the shortage of specialized financial journalists, women in TV and radio,
the reinforcement of women's investment opportunities, training and
professionalism of Saudi women media representatives and journalists, and media
ethics.
During the question-answer session, many journalists
attending the forum spoke of their problems and experiences in the profession.
F. Al-Onzi, a journalist in a public radio in Riyadh spoke
about her dilemma: 16 years of working for national radio without any social
security despite the fact that she is a divorcee and responsible for feeding
five kids. Her case included salary delays for more than six months. She said
that a journalist's ignorance of her rights was another factor that goes to her
detriment.
On Wednesday, the first day of the event, Nadiah Al-Juery, a
Reuters reporter in Egypt discussed "Financial Journalism Skills" with a group
of reporters and women activists focussing on the principles of financial news
reporting.
Al-Juery gave tips regarding financial news reporting and
added that while woman are not so prominent in financial print journalism they
still play a significant role in broadcast financial journalism.
Al-Juery also criticized some reporters for not verifying
information provided by their sources and for allowing themselves to be a means
of promoting some people at the expense of objectivity.
Etedal Al-Majbary, who represented a training and research
center in Tunisia, presented a paper entitled "Gender and Media Integration"
that discussed issues relating to women participating in all media sectors
including politics, economy and sport.
The paper further mentioned how the media should make use of
the potential of women to express women issues, which would aid in the
development of women
