Lady Reporter

Beena,

This was a good piece. I was wondering if the arrival of television has not changed things dramatically. You have said that there are a lot of anchors and radio jockeys, but are there not enough numbers joining hardcore reporting, as in field reporting?

Since you talk about the ``visibility`` factor itself helping inch forward the cause of women reporting, television is a great field. If not for anything else, the performance of field reporters often have nationwide audiences too judging them, thus, significantly dodging male bias within the heirarchy. It is difficult to stop a good television reporter from rising, especially if she also manages to impress the audience with her skills.

Similarly, has not the Internet also helped widen the gates for women in the media?

There is a flock of women photographers in Bombay, and it is a sight watching them elbow, push and get their ``eternal moment`` with male collegues during media stampedes!

Finally, television and Internet might still help only the women with the right class, connections etc. But with growth of regional as in language channels that might rub off on them too. That is what has happened this part of the divide!

Beena:

Thanks for this article. It would be interesting to find out how women actually make it to these positions. Do they follow the same screening process from entry level to Ed. as men do, or do they shine through by recommendations from people already in management?

In any event, the influence of women as Editor cannot be undermined, especially where power structures aspire to a patriarchal system. When calculating how ``unequal`` women are, a key determinant is `decision making` in the household. Though women have a long way to go in terms of controlling finances, be it in the household or society, the fact that there is progress in terms of ``agenda setting`` in the media, is great news.

I can`t help but quote Mernessi when she said that the `most powerful is the educated unveiled woman who can disseminate information and has access to resources, because she breaks the moslem ruler`s monopoly over information.`

-Aisha F. Sarwari

Beena:

An interesting article posing very valid questions.

The divide between the English and regional language press on the subject of women in the field is, however, superficial in India at least. The reason I say so is because while English newspapers do not affix ``Lady Reporter``, they can most certainly be accused of giving women journalists mostly the ‘soft stories’. We may have a stray person covering the finance sector, the crime beat, or even sports, but these are the exceptions and made to feel so. I might add here that many women reporters have constraints regarding night shifts, so they often miss out on last-minute happenings when the issue is locked.

You ask, ``Is one to be defined by one’s gender, or by professional merit?`` I would say both. For, irrespective of professional merit, one`s gender is an issue. I believe that the fact that women in South Asia are doing exceedingly well in the media has a lot to do with how they project the issues they are dealing with.

A straight report might not require skills dependent on gender, but a follow-up, a human interest story, interviews...these clearly get an added perspective when women are writing. And not merely about subjects that have to do with women. There is greater sensitivity in dealing with, say, slum demolitions, riots, child labour, prison reforms.

In my experience I have found that the common person is far more enlightened in this respect. I do believe that many of them have agreed to speak and speak out against various things because they trusted me, and I do think it is because I am a woman.

Ironically, the educated elite who talk about how great it is to see women shine in the field behave rather strangely. Invariably, during an interview session when I was the one posing the queries and counter-questioning, the subject -- a politician, a psychologist, an academic – would address their responses to the male photographer, even if all he was doing was fidgeting with his camera lens. After a couple of such episodes, I decided to ask the photographer to come later or fix another appointment.

I would also like to point out that the big mainstream newspapers in India do not have women at the helm; at best they look after the supplements or Sunday sections. Even the occasional resident editor is made answerable not to the chief Ed, but to the General Manager!

And of course you are often asked if what you are doing is a hobby…

good questions by ShoreSahib -
Well I do know its hard for women to be in some fields in Pakistan and in other countries but everyone has to acknowledge one thing that its easy now its a hell lot easy then 7-8 years ago -
what we need is women comming from lower-middle class into main stream media - and I am sure this will happen in a year or so -

salamzz .... yeah itz a nice piece ... really this is the case with women in Pakistan ... i dont know why they are pushed back in such fields.
SAIRA

``Is one to be defined by one’s gender, or by professional merit? How much does one inform the other? How much of the experience is shaped by educational background, ‘class’, connections and access?``

I think you have pretty much summed up the key factors. I too would tend to think that educational background, `class`, connections and access, are the vital ingredients towards an individual`s success, be it a woman or a man. These give both women and men the right `tools` to make it or break it in any discipline. I`ve run business in Islamabad, and my best marketing teams comprised of two couples. Out of the four young marketers, the two girls performed the best, and we were able to dominate a certain segment of the market pretty quickly. When I look back, both the girls came from prestigeous institutions, belonged to upper middle class, where parents were pretty liberal, and spoke `English` well, and carried themselves with confidence and great attitudes. It boils down to the whole package. Once you have it, you can break the strongest of anti forces and make your way through...doesn`t matter whether you are a man or a woman. It takes an attitude, and that unfortunately depends upon quite a lot of founding factors.

A very good friend of mine, in the US, sells aircrafts. Her perception of male dominance in the airline industry is pretty much similar to what I read in your article about journalism in Pakistan. She is among the very few female certified sales agents in the east coast, and it is always a challenging task for her to break into the `elite` agent group. But she did it, and I can very well define her through the same founding principles of eduction, background, connection, and access. `Class` is something that can be switched with `Color` in the US. But most important of all, she`s got the right attitude and she is a `go getter`.

How long will it take for us to provide our Pakistani Women the right environment to develop the right tools to be equally successful? Probably a few generations more...since `Sakina` is still the predominant representative of our 70% rural population, who is uneducated, dependent, totally dominated, and unfortunately least represented in the economic structure of the country.

Naved

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Miss Sarwar,
Your article is thought provoking, eloquent and cohesive. Why do you think women journalists are seen less often in Urdu or Sindhi news publications? Is it because the women journalists writing in English have been educated in schools for the upper middle class and the elite where English serves as the primary and preferred medium of expression? Is English associated not just with power but also with liberalism. Is a woman graduating from Kinnaird College more apt to write in English compared to one who graduated from Islamia College for Women Cooper Road. What roles do you think social class and educational background play in the development of female journalists? I would truly appreciate your input on this matter.
May this coming year bring you peace, much joy and ever increasing wisdom.

Blessed be God King of the Universe that Thou has not made me a woman ..... Amen !

Excellent piece.

Happy new year to Chowk readers, writers, inter-actors, and staff. May you see many more.

Mohammad Gill