PAKISTAN: Women Journalists Assert Needs in the Workplace

By Zofeen Ebrahim

KARACHI, Oct 21 (Asia Media Forum) — When Talat Aslam, editor of English-language daily ‘The News’, joined the paper in 2000, the newsroom only had one female reporter and a few others, including those working in the weekly sections.

“Today, I’m delighted to tell you that there are between 25 and 30 women. They are prominent in business, op-ed and editorial sections,” said Aslam, sharing his observations at a roundtable discussion here last week.

Not only that, Aslam also noted that a “number of women are writing hard politics and bigger issues” in the daily’s op-ed section. For him, this suggests that women are now starting to be “treated seriously”.

Titled ‘More Women in News and Views: How to Make It Happen?’, the forum’s aim was to come up with recommendations on how to effectively promote gender equality in the media.

The ‘brainstorming’ session, the second since March this year, was organised by Uks Research Centre, an Islamabad-based research organisation in collaboration with Woodrow Wilson International Centre (WWICS) for Scholars, in Washington D.C. in the United States.

Uks director Tasneem Ahmar also shared a draft report during the meet that analysed selected print and electronic media’s portrayal of women in the media.

Young and old journalists and editors from both the print and electronic media attended the Oct. 13 event held in Karachi. Among the topics discussed include the importance of promoting and portraying positive and sensitised images of Pakistani women, as well as the need for bringing in more women in mainstream media.

While there has not been any aggressive lobbying on anybody’s part, Aslam noted that “little [practical] things” did bring about the increase in the number of women working in his newspaper. These changes were also what female journalists had pointed out to Uks, which were included in the report.

Among the improvements include transportation services for women who leave the office after 8 p.m. According to Aslam, this was exclusive for their female staff. Other “small steps” are provisions of washrooms for women and having a “less intimidating” canteen for women, who used to order food to their offices, to venture into.

Having worked in a “virtually all-women environment” and “several women bosses” for years, Aslam believes he has been “automatically sensitised to women’s needs in the workplace.

In November 2008, the Word Economic Forum’s annual Global Gender Gap Report ranked Pakistan 127th in areas of social and economic empowerment of women. Women in the media do not fare any better, being a product of a conservative, patriarchal society like Pakistan.

While coverage of women and women-related issues have increased, the Pakistani media are still playing a “large role” in the negative portrayal of women as mere ‘objects’ and “passive recipients” of all forms of injustices, said Robert Hathaway, WWICS Asia Programme director.

Participants at the meeting also pointed out the need for a women-friendly media to attract more women to pursue journalism careers. Thus, the chances of changing the stereotypical portrayal of women in the industry are also greater.

“Some of the suggestions may be very small, but they make all the difference for a favourable working environment,” said Ahmar of the feedback she got from the respondents made up of women journalists and media managers.

Apart from reported sexual and emotional harassment by male managers and colleagues, many complained about the lack of facilities for women.

Married female journalists, especially those with children, wanted more flexible working hours and daycare centres for their children.

Transportation was a major issue, with women asking for a separate van for women. “When they are dropped off at their homes late at night with male colleagues, it gave neighbours and relatives a chance to point fingers at them,” she added.

Ahmer also noted the clamor, especially from those working in state-owned media, for separate washrooms for females.

As for the negative portrayal of women in the media, English-language channel ‘Dawn News’ programme host Saima Mohsin put it down to “lack of training” of journalists.

“People don’t know how to cover the story, which angles to look for and not knowing the audience,” said Mohsin, whose 15-year stint in England included working for the British public service network ITV and the BBC.

One of the main difficulties of female mass communication students is convincing parents to allow them to pursue journalism after graduation.

“We came across a vast majority of female students, I would say ninety-five percent of women, who pleaded with us to counsel their parents about the profession and to allow them to join it after completion of their degrees,” said Ahmer.

Female students are also discouraged by the environment in media houses, noted freelance journalist Irfan Ashraf, who teaches a course at the North West Frontier Province’s Peshawar University’s Mass Communication Department.

“I don’t know how to allay their fears, but I often tell them that they alone can make the difference and bring about a positive change,” he said.

To convince families that the media atmosphere was not “bad”, the onus lay on women especially those who became household names via the television to become role models and conduct themselves with dignity, observed Uzma Al Karim, a producer at Samaa, a private TV channel.

“Our culture is such that not everything is acceptable and often even news channels get the flak and are unfairly defined as a place not fit for ‘good’ girls,” she said.

Terming it a “huge issue” which should not be “dismissed”, Abbas Nasir, editor of English-language daily ‘Dawn’ and the news channel, DawnNews, said “if this were an issue” it should be addressed somehow.

Recounting the time when he was working for BBC, he said it was almost “bizarre” and “surreal” when interviewing very “dynamic” women applicants for jobs, he would get requests from them for help in convincing parents to allow them to work.     

The lack of data on women in media, based on the research results, was quite glaring. Thus, Hathaway suggested the collection of systematic data about harassment of women journalists and their salary, as well as the proportion of women in management positions, among other things.    

In the last decade, media in Pakistan, especially the electronic media (with a plethora of private television channels and FM radio stations) have played a major influencing role on Pakistani masses.

But while the broadcast media brought in a savvy and confident brigade of young, enthusiastic female faces, they still need to find ways to survive and make a mark in a primarily male-dominated work environment. (END/2009)