In
1762, Ann Franklin was positioned as the first female newspaper editor in
America.
Recently, however, the Saudi Arabian major newspaper,
the Saudi Gazette, just appointed the nation’s first ever female newspaper
editor, Somayya Jabarti. Setting the news
agenda could certainly have an impact, even if just providing small winds of
change for the conservative Saudi Arabia.
“Reporters Without Borders recently said Saudi
Arabia ranks near the bottom of countries around the world in press freedom.”
I think it would be interesting to follow the content
of Jabarti’s newspaper, since she is now in a position where people are expecting
something out of the ordinary from her. Maintaining a never before held by women position in the media, not only will she be modeling a successful woman in a position of authority, but she will be setting the news agenda that may have an impact on other leadership roles.
I can't believe it has taken them so long to hire a female newspaper editor! 2014, wow. The narcissist in me thinks that it's just a ploy to make people "think" they are becoming more open-minded and that the information she puts out there will still be strictly regulated. But we can hope that it makes some difference for the women in Saudi Arabia. Out of 180 nations, they rank 164 on the Freedom press index.
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