She might not be able to drive to work but a Saudi Arabian woman has cracked through one ceiling to become the first female to be appointed as the editor of a national newspaper in the country.
Somayya Jabarti has been named editor-in-chief of the English language Saudi Gazette after outgoing editor, Khaled Almaeena, who held the position for over a decade, departed over the weekend.
On Sunday Almaeena wrote of Jabarti’s appointment in a column on the paper’s website, declaring that Jabarti had earned the position on merit, not gender, but recognised her appointment was “historic”.
“It was not a question of gender but of merit that decided and earned her this opportunity,” Almaeena wrote.
“She has been associated with me for almost 13 years, and I’ve had the goal almost as long of wanting to see a Saudi woman enter the male-dominated bastion of editors-in-chief”.
Although other women have taken the reins of magazines in Saudi Arabia, Jabarti is the first female to edit a national newspaper in the kingdom notorious for severely restricting women’s rights — it ranks tenth worst in the world on the World Economic Forum’s 2013 gender gap index report.
Jabarti, who was previously deputy editor of the publication, acknowledged the significance of her appointment and said that while 17 out of 20 of the paper’s reporters are female, the majority of senior editorial positions are held by men.
“There’s a crack that has been made in the glass ceiling. And I’m hoping it will be made into a door,” she told Al Arabiya news.
“The success will not be complete unless I see my peers who are also Saudi women in the media take other roles where they are decision-makers.”
She said that the appointment also bought with it significant responsibility to represent other Saudi women in the workplace.
“Being the first Saudi woman [newspaper editor] is going to be double the responsibility… One’s actions will reflect upon my fellow Saudi women,” she said.
Meanwhile, Australian female journalists are also gaining global recognition. Academic and former ABC journalist, Julie Posetti, whose career in media has spanned over 25 years, will take up a 12 month research fellowship with World Association of Newspapers to investigate the future of journalism and newspapers.
Earlier this year former fairfax journalist Paola Totaro was elected president of the Foreign Press Association in London. The two-time Walkley winner is the first Australian to hold the position.