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AWMC
ACTIVITIES PLEASE DO CLICK ON:
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ARAB WOMEN MEDIA CENTER DIRECTOR |
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Media Training Seminar – Media Monitoring
28 – 29 January 2008, Vienna
Diplomatic Academy
Follow Up initiative of the conference “Women Leaders – Networking for
Peace and Security in the Middle East” (May 2007)
Women – Middle East –
Media and Conflict solution
Austrian
Foreign Ministry supports network of Middle Eastern and
Austrian journalists.
On 28 – 29
January, 2008 a Media Training Seminar took place at the
Diplomatic Academy in Vienna, organized by the Federal
Ministry for European and International Affairs. The
objective of this meeting and training was to strengthen
the journalists´ mutual confidence and encourage their
cooperation for a further development of the in May 2007
initiated network.
Twenty
female top-journalists from the Middle East, Turkey and
Austria, representing a broad range of media, worked
mainly on questions such as how the media could
contribute to changing stereotypes and prejudices and
consequently to mitigating conflicts. The discussions
focused also on the presence of women in media
environment and business and the coverage of women in
the media. Whether they are working for different media
enterprises or as correspondents in the Middle East or
for Middle East issues - women are facing similar
problems.
For more details please click
here
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JOURNALIST
MAHASEN AL EMAM
Awarded
an Honorable Mention by ALF
Dear Mrs El Emam,
On behalf of the Anna Lindh Foundation for
Dialogue between Cultures and the Fondazione Mediterraneo, I would like to
congratulate for you have been awarded an Honorable Mention for the Euro
Mediterranean Award for Dialogue between Cultures 2007.
Congratulations again, and best wishes for your continued success.
With our kindest regards.
Gianluca Solera
Network Coordinator
Anna Lindh Foundation
To view just click here
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ARAB WOMEN
MEDIA CENTER DIRECTOR
JOURNALIST
MAHASEN AL EMAM
Is the winner of this year's Knight International Press Fellowship
Award fOR YEAR 2002
Journalists
Gather to Honor Courageous Colleagues has selected these two extraordinary journalists
for recognition at the fifth annual Excellence in International
Journalism Awards Dinner. Mahassen al-Emam of Jordan and
Andrew
Kromah of Sierra Leone will receive the 2002 Knight International
Press Fellowship Awards.
"These
journalists have never given up on the ability of words to make a
difference," said ICFJ president David Anable. "Their
professionalism and courage go beyond duty. They have provided an invaluable
public service while inspiring their colleagues and informing their
audiences."
During
the dinner Eugene Patterson, former editor of the St. Petersburg Times, will
pay tribute to the lives and careers of Thomas Winship and James D. Ewing,
two of ICFJ's co-founders who died earlier this year.
The
evening will begin at 6:30 p.m. on October 8, with a private viewing of the
Phillips Collection (21st and Q Streets) and a reception at the Westin
Embassy Hotel (2100 Massachusetts Avenue). The guest speaker at the dinner
will be Jack Fuller, president of the Tribune Publishing Company. The dinner
begins at 8:00 p.m.
The
Knight International Press Fellowship Awards, honoring individuals who
demonstrate journalistic integrity and independence under difficult
circumstances, will be awarded to:
Mahassen
al-Emam, who became the first female editor-in-chief of a Jordanian
newspaper in 1994. In 1999, she established the Arab Women Media Center
(AWMC) in Jordan to support female journalists following in her footsteps.
The center is the only one of its kind in the Arab world and is opposed by
most of the region's governments and the official press. In three years, the
center's membership has grown to nearly 200. Shortly after AWMC's inception,
al-Emam resigned from the Jordanian Press Association, where she had been a
member since 1979 and had served as the first elected female member of the
association's High Committee. She resigned in response to the association's
criticizing her for accepting foreign money to fund a training conference.
She now writes only for Paris- or London-based Arab publications, where she
can express her views freely in her native language.
Andrew
Kromah, who in 1993 and 1996, respectively, established KISS-FM in Bo and
SKYY-FM in the capital, Freetown, to fill an information vacuum in the wake
of Sierra Leone's devastating civil war. In regions that received KISS-FM's
1996 and 2002 election broadcasts, voter turnout was significantly higher
than in other areas. While promoting respect for human rights and a civil
society in one of the world's most hostile press environments, Kromah has
nonetheless ensured that each side in the civil war had its voice heard,
whether rebels, government forces or civilians. He also has developed a
system of corruption reporting under the pseudonym "Mr. Owl,"
which has led to increased transparency among numerous commercial and
governmental institutions. Despite several attempts on his life, most
recently by a rebel group opposed to his views, Kromah continues, undaunted.
Each
year, the Knight award winners are nominated and selected by Knight Fellows
who have participated in the Knight International Press Fellowship Program.
The program, which is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
and administered by ICFJ, sends U.S. professionals overseas to share
journalism, management, business and technical skills with colleagues around
the globe. Since the program began in 1994, 144 Fellows have assisted
independent media organizations in more than 80 countries.
The
International Center for Journalists was established in 1984 to improve the
quality of journalism and strengthen democracies worldwide through
professional training, fellowships and exchanges. During the past 18 years,
ICFJ has worked with some 15,000 journalists from more than 174 countries.
The Center is an independent nonprofit institution based in Washington, D.C.
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VIVA magazine interviewed AWMC
Director
Edition Dec, 2006
Intro with
Laura Haddad
Walking in to meet Mahasen Al-Emam, I felt a sense of gratitude
to her, a woman I'd never met in my life. For if it hadn’t been
for her courage and endurance in pioneering change, we working
women wouldn’t be where we’re at we are today.
Mahasen holds a number of firsts: becoming the first female
editor-in-chief of a Jordanian newspaper in 1999, aptly named
Sawt al-Mar’a (Voice of Women), the first woman to be accepted
by the Jordan Press Association as a registered journalist and
the first to be elected to the 10-member Jordanian Press
Council.
They've taken note of her on a global scale, too. In 2002,
Mahasen was bestowed the prestigious Knight International Press
Fellowship Award in Washington, DC, for her outstanding work
under difficult and sometimes dangerous circumstances.
Recognised for standing in defiance of government restrictions
on press freedom, she covered the Iran-Iraq War on her own when
her newspaper's management refused to send her. With the heavy
cloud of censorship looming even today, Mahasen has resigned
herself to writing only for Paris- or London-based Arab
publications, where she can express her views freely.
Yet, three decades after breaking into the male-dominated field
of journalism, Mahasen’s greatest triumph to date is the Arab
Women Media Center, the only one of its kind in the Arab world,
to help train women journalists, provide networking
opportunities and organise conferences geared towards changing
the status quo.
Sitting at her office desk with a cup of green tea in one hand
and a pen in the other, Mahasen speaks about the power of the
written word, her greatest passion.
To
view interview in details, VIVA print edition Dec, 2006
volume 7 |
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Ms. Miki and AWMC
Director Ms. Mahasen Al emam
Ms. Miki is a
journalist volunteer from Germany, hosted by AWMC since Oct 2nd
- 2006, she has an impression on our work and role, so here is
her story:
Arab Women Media Center
My „place to be“ in Amman.
Last year, at the
beginning of December my chief editor in Germany, Ilona
Marenbach (radiomultikulti, RBB), asked me, if I would like to
do an internship in an Islamic country. I’ve never been to an
Islamic country before; it would be my first experience.
I thought about it and decided to try my luck. I had to apply
for it. The IFA, the German Institute for Foreign Affairs is
organizing Cross Culture Internships since 2005. They are
sending young Europeans to countries in the Middle East and
young people from the Middle East to Germany. Dialogue between
the cultures is on of the main topics of the IFA.
My application for the Internship was successful and so I
started my adventure in Jordan on the 2nd of October 2006. My
hosting Organization is the Arab Women Media Center - AWMC in
Amman, Jordan.
The AWMC is an NGO – a non-government organization, which is
unique in Jordan and the Arabic countries. Unique in the
function that they follow. They are describing their work as an
umbrella, an
umbrella that protects
journalists, female journalists in Jordan and the surrounding
countries.
And journalists means
in this case from all media – print, radio, TV and online.
Because, as I had to learn, there is a Press Union in Jordan,
but it only takes care about journalists, who are working in
Print media, at newspapers and magazines. No one cared about all
the other journalists, especially not about female journalists.
This gap closes the AWMC since it was established in December
1999.
Every female journalist can be member of the AWMC and benefit of
the network that the AWMC has built. It is a network between the
journalists.
The biggest event of year is the Arab Women Media Conference.
For the 5th time it took place from the 19. -21. September 2006.
Under the title “Arab Media in Dialogue with Others” 33
participants discussed the topic. I am really sad, that I wasn’t
here during the conference, because I’m sure, that it was an
extremely interesting happening.
My experience in Jordan and in the center was really exciting,
because everything was and is new for me. It is my first contact
with an NGO, where the work has to be done from just a few
people, because there is no money, to employ more people. The
main work is to keep the contacts and to find people, who are
interested in the work of the center and who believe in the same
things as the center. The creative part of the work is to think
about new projects that will help to achieve the set objectives.
“The long-term goals of the AWMC are to strengthen the
independence, transparency and quality of the Jordanian press
and to enhance the role of women in the media, and in the
political and economic life of the country. The Center’s work
includes convening regional conferences, publishing reports and
conducting training on topics to advancing media freedom and
democratic development, and how women can be more involved in
these processes. “
The newest idea is to establish a radio station, a female radio
station, made from women for women. The employees will be
members of the AWMC, women, who have no jobs at the moment. It
will all be about women issues. A place where their dreams,
wishes and daily problems will be discussed and heard! I think,
that this radio station is a brilliant idea, because I feel,
that there is still a long way to go till the women will really
be emancipated. For me as European women it’s really different
to get along with the picture of women. I think, that it is
really necessary to do something to change the point the view in
the broad public. That does not mean, that the society should be
changed to a European way of life, but it should be taught for
more tolerance. Because I think, that one of the biggest
problems is a lack of tolerance and also a kind of fear of the
new. And it will be something new to talk and hear about women
issues on a radio station, something new that will surely have
to face a lot of critics and skepticism. But hopefully after
some time it will change the critics and skepticism to a
positive and successful discussion. |
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Jordanian
entrepreneur gives women a helping hand
Media center helps female journalists overcome prejudices in the
Arab world
Tiare Rath
Daily Star staff
 AMMAN: Mahasen al-Emam
doesn’t like playing by the rules.
The Jordanian government deemed the two publications she owned in the early
1990s too political and controversial, quickly shutting them down. When male
editors wouldn’t send her to cover the war in Iraq, she went herself.
Three years ago, without much support, Emam took one of her biggest plunges
to date by establishing the Arab Women Media Center. The center is believed
to be the only one dedicated to helping female journalists in the Arab
world.
“We need to have a new generation, a strong generation, of journalists,”
Emam said during an interview at the center’s headquarters in Amman.
It is a cause in which she is willing to invest. The center runs on an
annual budget of 14,000 dinars ($19,750), and Emem has already taken out
35,000 dinars in loans and spent25,000 dinars to furnish and renovate the
house that she turned into the center’s offices.
She has two staffers who help her plan conferences and training sessions,
many of them targeting younger journalists. The center has also held
courses for nonjournalists on women’s rights and media education.
The center’s membership has skyrocketed to 185 women from just four when
it opened in 1999. The vast majority 147 are Jordanian.
Ibtisam Awadat, a political reporter for The Star, an English-language
Jordanian weekly, joined the center in 2001. She said it “plays a
significant role” for female journalists and youths by offering skills
training courses and technological resources like computers and the
internet. Among the courses she found most valuable were investigative
reporting and English writing and editing.
While membership is only open to women, most of the training sessions,
especially those targeting cub reporters, are available for both genders.
Included among the youth projects is an online magazine, Arab Youth and
Modern Media.
Emem explains that young journalists are particularly important because they
are the ones who can change the status quo.
“I believe that if you prepare the younger generation from the beginning
… a lot of problems disappear,” she said.
One of her main goals is to help women break the glass ceiling which she
said holds back women journalists in Jordan and much of the Arab world. Emem
speaks from experience: She was the first female editor in chief of a
Jordanian newspaper and her membership in the Jordanian Press Association
dates back to 1979.
“If there’s a hot place or lots of activity somewhere, (male editors)
never send a woman,” she said. “Never, never, never.”
Most of the problems female journalists in Jordan face are the same
obstacles that their male colleagues encounter, Awadat said, such as
accessing information. But women reporters have to deal with sexism as well.
“Sometimes, there is an underestimation of female journalists, mainly in
the first meetings with officials,” she said. “Some of those officials
don’t take women journalists seriously. With time, women journalists prove
their competence and manage to earn the esteem and respect.
“However, one of the obstacles that remains uncomfortable is the social
understanding to the role of women journalists,” she said. “Many people
believe that journalism should be only kept for men. If women want to write,
they can only choose cultural, art and social topics.”
One of Emem’s feats was establishing March 12 as Arab Women Media Day. Its
first function, in 2000, honored older journalists; last year was then
dedicated to youth and veteran success stories, and 2002 to “firsts,” or
glass-ceiling-breaking accomplishments by Arab women. This year also took
politics into account by honoring Palestinian and Iraqi journalists.
Members of Jordan’s monarchy and the United Nations have supported the
center and its projects, but they haven’t gone over well with other
official outlets, Emem maintained. Most Arab governments oppose the center,
she said, and she quit the Jordanian Press Association in 1999, after 20
years as a member, because it criticized her for taking foreign money to
help fund a conference.
She only writes for London- and Paris-based publications now, but her
ambitions to establish media outlets dealing with Arab women’s issues
remains. Emem sees the internet as a likely option because it is difficult
for the Jordanian government to censor.
She is trying to raise money for online audio broadcasts for female and
youth journalists, so that “we don’t need to make a conference here,”
she said. “We can hear each other and contact each other via the web: …
here, Sydney, everywhere.”
She also dreams of establishing a magazine that deals with the women’s
issues that are so often left out of publications targeting women and girls.
Emem said she wants it to focus primarily on women’s rights, “not advice
for nail polish or make-up.”
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DEAD SEA —
His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday Jul 18th - 2004
HM
has encouraged university students to continue expressing their views and
concerns to government officials without fear or reservation.
Addressing concerns raised by the youth
at the end of their two-day forum here, King Abdullah told students they
should express themselves freely at all times.
Around 120 Jordanian youth met senior
officials and business leaders this week to explore ways of enhancing their
engagement in the country's social, economic and political life.
Students say they are hesitant in
arguing with their university professors for fear of getting a low grade or
being “humiliated” or “told off.”
They attributed such fears to a
“prevailing culture” that discouraged the young from questioning the
intelligence and wisdom of adults.
Meeting several students during lunch,
King Abdullah pointed to an “older generation” he described as “instilling
fear of authorities.”
“The King said we have to do away with
these fears, follow our own track and freely express ourselves,” said
Abdullah Tayfour, a 4th year computer engineering student at the Hashemite
University.
Tayfour told King Abdullah he was
encouraged by the atmosphere at the forum, where officials welcomed both
positive and negative comments on various national issues.
“We didn't have any fears when it came
to telling officials how we felt about the different social, economic and
political issues in the country,” Tayfour said.
“I believe that our contribution to
such national dialogue was important and the extent of freedom to which we
have been able to express ourselves was a great leap,” he added.
The students called for ensuring a
“safer and more secure environment” to foster their participation in the
country's political life, efforts to eliminate fanaticism, greater
involvement in higher educational reforms, providing incentives to empower
women.
Minister of
Planning and International Cooperation Bassem Awadallah said the forum dealt
with key national issues needed to boost development in the Kingdom.
“All of us here know of the
opportunities available in this country as well as the challenges, but what
is more important is that we are also aware of the tools needed to overcome
them,” Awadallah added.
The minister, however, noted that an
“effective and dynamic mechanism” was needed to realise the King's national
vision.
Several students told The Jordan Times
that they requested forming a committee to follow-up on their
recommendations and the King directed officials to begin work on the
proposal. |
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Ayamm -
Arab's Youth & Modern Media - on line magazine Amman news letter
Media
to non media program for media role on Democracy and HR
MRS Al
Emam back from Durban SA in which she participated in third assembly
conference for democracy movement
Media
Watch AWMC participation regionally and internationally
Media Martyrs media heroes killed on job in media battle
field
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Under the Patronage of H.R.H
Princes Bassma
5th Regional Conference of
Arab Women Journalists
Sep 18-22, 2006 - Amman - Jordan
Title
Arab media in Dialogue with others
To view
conference activities please go here
CONFERENCE
COMMUNIQUE'S PLEASE CLICK HERE |
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STREET IN AMMAN
RENAMED WHERE AWMC SITED ON
LAUNCHING ARAB WOMEN IN MEDIA [ AL
ELLAMIAT AL ARABIAT] ON STREET IN AMMAN TO BE RENAMED AFTER ARAB WOMEN IN
MEDIA
إطلاق
اسم الإعلاميات العربيات على الشارع الذي يقع فيه مركزنا في جبل الويبدة - شرق
- مقابل وزارة التربية والتعليم
Just
to day 4th of July 2002
ENGINEER
NIDAL AL HADID MAYOR OF G.AMMAN HAS
TAKEN STEP ON OCCASION OF CELLEBRATION YEAR FOR [AMMAN THE CAPITAL OF
ARABIAN CULURE] BY RENAMING ONE OF THE STREETS IN AMMAN AFTER ARAB WOMEN IN
MEDIA.
AWMC MEMBERS HIGHLY
APPRECIATED HE MAYOR OF G.AMMAN STEP CONSIDER THE ACT AS A GENTELMAN MOVE
TO WARDS MODERNIZATION AND HORING HIS SISTERS ARAB WOMEN IN MEDIA IN JORDAN
AS WELLAS PAN ARABIA..
GOD BLESS THE MAYOR
AND JORDAN.
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AWMC
ACTIVITIES PLEASE DO CLICK ON:
HERE
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