Women War Correspondents

From the Telegraph:

The early women war correspondents changed forever how conflict was reported. Here we tell their stories of courage and cunning.

'Blondes,' the American war reporter Martha Gellhorn was once advised by her father, 'only work under compulsion.'

It was early in the 20th century and a time when women were to be seen and not heard. Certainly not in print or on radio, and decisively not on a battlefield. But George Gellhorn's restive, enquiring daughter spent the bulk of that century following its wars, talking her way on to the fronts around the world.

She was not alone. During the Second World War more and more women reporters negotiated their way off the society desks and into the newsrooms, challenging head on the prevailing belief that women should neither witness battle, nor report it.

These women filed stories brewed in equal parts from exigency and personal vision, and in so doing changed how war was reported .

I stumbled on many of these female pioneers in war reporting while I was researching my novel, The Postmistress (Viking), and their grace and grit inspired my heroine, who is broadcasting from London on the Blitz.

Deborah Howell

From the New York Times:

Deborah Howell, one of the first women to become the top editor of a large American newspaper, died Friday in New Zealand, where she was struck by a car while on foot. She was 68 years old and lived in Washington.

Over three decades in Minnesota and in Washington, Ms. Howell repeatedly ascended professional heights that had been the near-exclusive province of men, earning accolades for her toughness, curiosity and enthusiasm. At each stop, she expanded coverage of social issues like AIDS and women in the workplace.

At age 34, she became city editor of The Minneapolis Star, which later became The Star Tribune after a merger. Four years later she jumped to a rival paper, The St. Paul Pioneer Press, where she served as managing editor and then executive editor. At The Pioneer Press, she oversaw two projects that led the paper to win the first Pulitzer Prize in the paper’s history, in 1986 and 1988.

Ms. Howell left The Pioneer Press in 1990 to become the chief of the Washington bureau for the Newhouse newspaper chain, a post she held for 15 years. Her staff at Newhouse News Service also won a Pulitzer while she was there.

Balibo: An Australian Tragedy

From BBC News:

Indonesia has banned the film Balibo, which depicts the deaths of six foreign journalists in East Timor, the head of the foreign correspondents club said.

The club cancelled a screening of the film on legal advice that they could face charges.

The journalists died as Indonesian troops invaded East Timor in 1975.

Jakarta maintains they were killed accidentally in cross-fire. But an Australian coroner found in 2007 that the journalists had been executed.

The journalists - two Australians, two Britons and a New Zealander - were killed in the border town of Balibo as Indonesian forces entered East Timor.

A sixth Australian journalist was killed in Dili shortly after when Indonesian troops entered the city.

Web Links:

• Balibo - Official Film Site
• Balibo Five - Wikipedia
• Shooting Balibo - Penguin Books
• Balibo - Review by Shirley Shackleton
• Balibo 5 - Liam Bartlett Sixty Minutes Blog
• Death in Balibo, Lies in Canberra - Review by Simon Philpott
• Justice Long Overdue - Article in Perth Now
• Balibo 5 Inquiry - IGIS
• We Killed Balibo Five - from news.com.au
  

South Asian Women in Media

From the Daily Times:

The first regional conference of South Asian Women in Media (SAWM) concluded on Sunday, urging South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries to implement the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) organised the two-day conference at a local hotel. The conference focused on the challenges, opportunities and partnerships available for women in media. The conference asked SAARC governments to increase people-to-people contacts. It called for journalists to be allowed free movement across borders.

The conference asked the governments of South Asia to ensure access to information by adopting effective laws and regulations, ensure freedom of expression and protect women in the media performing their professional duties.

Gender guidelines: The delegates demanded media organisations to adopt gender guidelines and a code of conduct while ensuring equal opportunities for women. They demanded SAARC governments and the SAARC Secretariat to recognise SAWM as an associated body of the SAARC.

Addressing the conference, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira assured the female journalists that special attention would be paid to issues regarding the media in Pakistan.

Kaira said many women were working in the media, and efforts were being made to improve the environment.

US: Shriver Showcases Women

From Associated Press:

Maria Shriver and NBC Universal are teaming up for a weeklong programming series on the state of 21st-century U.S. women.

The programs, which will be distributed on NBC Universal TV channels and online, are based on "The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Changes Everything." Shriver, the first lady of California and a former NBC News correspondent, conducted the study with the Center for American Progress.

NBC Universal said Tuesday the series kicks off Oct. 18 when Shriver appears on NBC's "Meet The Press." Shriver and NBC News also will collaborate to bring her findings to MSNBC, CNBC, CNBC and Telemundo.

Ghana: Promoting Women in Leadership

From Modern Ghana:

The media have been urged to give greater publicity and support to women in diverse leadership positions in the country, to help push the national development agenda forward.

The capabilities of women who form half of the population when made public would encourage more women to seek political and other key positions to enable them to also contribute their quota to national development.

Madam Anima Wilson, Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, made these remarks during a two day media sensitisation workshop on: “Promoting Greater Visibility for Women in Leadership,” in Kumasi.

It was organised by Women, Media and Change (WOMEC), a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), which seeks to promote effective use of the media for the advancement of women, and was supported by Abantu for Development, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Women's Manifesto Coalition.

“The media wield influence in every society; the change can be realised when we partner and find innovative ways of promoting the cause of women in leadership”, she stressed.

Egyptian Women

Excerpts from Marlene Phillip's article in the Phoenix Liberal Examiner: Egyptian Women - Image vs Reality

"According to an article in the March 30 issue of Time, more than 80% of Egyptian women wear the hijab, loosely defined as a head covering or modest dress. Based on my observations during a recent visit to Egypt, I would not agree with that figure; it is too low. Virtually every Egyptian women I saw covered her hair completely, most wore loose fitting clothes, and a smaller but surprisingly significant number donned a full burqa.

When seen in person, the difference between the woman on the Egyptian street and what is portrayed by the Egyptian media and marketers is so dramatic it leads to many questions."

Pakistan: Women in Media

From Dawn:
"A myriad of successful women here on Friday attended the launch of Diary 2009 produced by Uks – a research, resource and publication centre on women and media.

The diary titled Women of Pakistan: Striving for Visibility and Power in the Media focuses on women, who have featured in the media because of their respective professions and hard work.

The cover, which is in black and white, is flanked by pictures of prominent women in Pakistan’s history in chronological order, such as Maleeha Lodhi, Sherry Rehman, and many more.

At the end of the diary is a chronology of women who have featured in the media, some of whom have a unique profession such as Fareshteh Gati Aslam, a sports journalist, and Nigar Nazar, the first woman cartoonist of Pakistan."