Download issue (PDF) - Nieman Foundation - Harvard University

Women: International
Not a single mainline newspaper in
India has a woman chief editor. One
reason, of course, is that women joined
the profession late—the first batch of
women entered the profession in the
1960’s—and took to covering politics
even later. But it must be pointed out
that there are male chief editors who
are much younger than many senior
women journalists are. Though women
journalists have proved as competent,
if not more, than men, they still lag
behind in the power game. Two women
who are at the top—Shobhana Bhartia
(managing editor of The Hindustan
Times) and Malini Parthasarathy (executive
editor of The Hindu)—both
belong to the families that own the
newspapers. They’ve had to work hard
to prove themselves and overcome
some amount of intra-office opposition,
but the fact remains they would
not have risen this far but for their
family connections. Interestingly, both
do not have brothers, giving rise to the
question: Would they have been given
these opportunities had there been
male siblings?
At The Hindustan Times and The
Hindu, the presence of a woman editor
has not made much difference in terms
of news coverage and treatment. Nor is
there any special concern for women
journalists (flextime, provision of child
care). In fact, when The Hindustan
Times had a case of sexual harassment
some time ago, the young woman subeditor
was asked by the female managing
editor to drop the case she had filed
in the court. (The sub-editor went to
court after she received no response to
her complaint from the management.)
The senior male colleague against
whom she had filed the case was removed
from his position—and promoted!
Finally, working conditions in
the paper became so hostile that the
sub-editor left. She now works as a
freelancer.
In 1994, women journalists based in
Delhi formed a body called Indian
Women’s Press Corps (IWPC). The
IWPC seeks to encourage women journalists,
promote debate about women’s
issues, and provide a forum for networking
with fellow professionals,
politicians, bureaucrats and academics.
While many of these aims are being
realized, problems like sexual harassment
or discriminatory treatment have
not been adequately addressed. One
reason is that most members are also
employed by publishing houses and
wish to avoid unpleasantness—or
worse, coercion—from employers.
Women journalists in India have
made a lot of progress but still have a
long road ahead to gain equality with
their male colleagues and influence
the manner in which news and issues
are handled. ■
Angana Parekh is a senior journalist
who has worked for 18 years with
two of India’s leading newspapers,
the Indian Express and The Hindu.
She is now director of Women’s
Feature Service, treasurer of the
Indian Women’s Press Corps, and
serves on the executive committee of
WomenAction, an international
network of women’s organizations.
anganaparekh@yahoo.co.in
In Pakistan, Journalists Maintain Women’s Lesser Status
[Journalists] ‘have a somewhat conformist approach towards women’s issues.’
By Massoud Ansari
Aman slaughtered his wife and
mother-in-law in Hyderabad in
the wee hours of a Sunday morning.
After six months of marriage to
Khan Mohammed, Surahia had moved
in with her mother after developing
differences with her husband.
Mohammed sneaked into the house
and attacked his mother-in-law,
Jameela, 45, with a sharp-edged
weapon while she was asleep. He cut
her throat and other parts of her body,
then murdered his wife when she woke
up and cried for help.
Sources claimed that Mohammed
suspected that his estranged wife had
developed illicit relations with an unknown
local and that was why she had
separated from him a year and a half
before. “He slaughtered his mother-inlaw
because he believed that she was
also a part of the crime,” one source
said in a newspaper report that appeared
in a major paper in Pakistan. As
often happens in coverage of such stories,
the media—by their use of a quote
like this—provide justification for such
murders.
Women activists in Pakistan believe
that by reporting such incidents this
way, journalists reflect—and do not
challenge—the nation’s cultural traditions,
and they perpetuate male domination
in the society. Religious convictions
also play a major part in portraying
a woman (or wife) as this story did.
Traditional media in Pakistan tend
to praise women who are submissive
and conform their actions and words
to reflect more docile virtues. When a
woman demonstrates her independence,
whether financial or intellectual,
resentment rises against her, and
this is reflected in the way such women
are portrayed by the press. Says Rehana
Hakeem, editor of Newsline, a leading
newsmagazine in Pakistan, “Other than
the religious or cultural obligations,
92 Nieman Reports / Winter 2001