Women Journalists Take a Step Forward

November 26, 2005

By Amira Al-Shariff

SANA'A - While the media reflect society, it can also have a considerable influence on how it develops. Indeed, it is not too far-fetched to say that several of the problems that society suffers could be helped by a greater professionalism and freedom in the press.

There is therefore an obvious need for women journalists to improve their role and standing in the Yemeni media, not only for their own sake but to help improve women’s rights.

The importance of a five-day course for female reporters, run last week by the Yemen Female Media Forum (YFMF), was therefore greater than a series of training sessions.When female journalists can promote their issues effectively which they can support and discuss in a clear and professional method, they will be better equipped to put across their message to society.

Workshops were held in news editing, report editing, and computer skills, the second part of the project initiated by YFMF to improve journalism skills of women in media. Writing skills were also developed in the project, which ran from November 19 to 23 in cooperation with the Internews organization.

The participants - 18 Yemeni media women from across Yemen including Sana’a, Aden, Taiz and Hadhramaut - received instruction on all aspects in journalism.The course was delivered by Hafez Al-Bukari, General Secretary of Yemeni Journalists Syndicate, Mohammed Hassan El-Banna, Vice- Editor in Chief in for Al-Akhbar newspaper and Solveig Schmidt, Chief Chair of Gender Council, from the International Federation of Journalist (IFJ).

The course organizers were selected for their wide experience in providing training in news editing and report editing, YFMF said.
“YFMF is keen to promote a unique experiences in the important skill of news editing and report editing,” a statement from the organization added.Rahma Hugira, chairwoman of the YFMF told the Yemen Observer that women had been neglected in the media.

“Female media training courses are important, especially as women have been deprived of such courses until now. The Yemen Journalists Syndicate ran a training course but it was difficult for women to take part in that,” Hugira said. “This is therefore an important step in supporting female issues in our society. We in the YFMF do our very best to arrange such training courses in the science of journalism to improve professionalism, and to enable female journalists to deliver an effective and just message.”

However, Hugira said she hoped the course would have an even wider impact than providing skills alone.
“We want to promote a professional discussion of the issue women, and women journalists face, and add to the development of human rights in Yemen,” she said.“We aim to enable women to increase their involvement and to equip them with the skill to make better decisions,” she said. “The entire training course is comes under frame of promoting female media skills,” she added.

“If we did not promote female journalists and train them how to be professional in their treatment of news, investigations, and reports, the message relayed by the media related to women's issues would stay weak.”She added: “We try to benefit from a variety of Arabic countries' experiences. In the coming year we will also begin training for male journalists.”

Rawda Ahmed, one of the trainees on course, said she had learnt a great deal.   “I have benefit from this training course. We studied the properties of news and report editing, the skills for collecting materials for news, ways of writing news, common mistakes, the technology of press, the role of computers and the internet in the press - as well as satellite channels and their influence,” Ahmed said.

“We also studied how to publish work in either a newspaper or a magazine and reader's needs, and looked at practical examples from Arabic and foreign newspapers and magazines.”  Mohammed Hassan El-Banna, from Egypt, the Vice-Editor in Chief for Al-Akhbar newspaper, said: “I am pleased to share my experiences with Yemen’s women journalist to increase their knowledge.

“I notice that the women reporters have a desire and a thirst for training which indicates their strong will. It is well know that being a journalist is a job that can bring with it many difficulties, but it is also a very interesting job, and I believe that an Egyptian or a Yemeni woman has the right to work anywhere - especially in the press, because it is an honest way to strengthen the relationship between the nation and the government.”

He said:“I call upon the Yemen Journalists Syndicate to issue membership cards for female journalists, as long as they meet legal requirements.“I hope that the YJS does not postpone the issuing membership cards as I think that we have should not differentiate between men and women in the media.

“Experience is more important than the study of the media. In my opinion, the study of journalism alone does not create a successful journalist. Instead, it is experience and talent that are the two factors that create successful a journalist.” The project is one of twelve that the forum had initiated since its establishment in 2004.