If we see it this way, should we have a conflict
over the journalists sent to cover conflicts? Will we then send some journalist
to cover that. The question being, will it be a man or women?
There have been many debates about women
journalist being deprived of the opportunity to cover conflicts. it being a
sensitive subject there has been a significant change as many women journalists
have opened up and spoken the truth of what actually goes wrong.
Female journalists are not
given equal share in their job position, with the higher posts being given to
men. Why should gender decide ones career?
Why are they not judged on their work, but gender? “Why many women journalists are deprived of
top positions in organizations due to gender discrimination “said Nandini
Sahai, director, Media Information and Communication Center of India (MICCI),
in the February issue of The Times of India.
Every human being is capable of
doing something which they know and are aware of. Hence, I strongly believe
that women should be sent to capture war areas provided they are set to face
the consequences. They should be given equal share in the job they are
passionate about.
Lara Logan, a CBS correspondent
brought the issue into sharp focus when she spoke about the harassment she
faced when she was covering the news in Cairo. This gave boost to many other
female journalists worldwide that started speaking out about the sexual harassment
they all went through. Is it their fault if they are pretty? Is it their fault
if they are passionate about their work and fiercely go to places to cover
news?
It’s not only the female crowd
but also male journalists who are victims to sexual abuse in places of higher
violence. Although women comprise of the major part of the victims, male
victims are also victimized.
Jenny Nordberg, a New
York-based Swedish correspondent, was in Pakistan in October 2007 to cover the
return of Benazir Bhutto, the exiled former prime minister who would be
assassinated two months later. During a chaotic procession in Karachi that day,
Nordberg became separated from her colleagues and surrounded by a crowd of men
who sexually assaulted her. She said it
was embarrassing for her to expose it to the public and feared that her job
would be affected. Male journalists have also been targeted. Umar
Cheema, a prominent political reporter for Pakistan’s largest English-language
newspaper, The News, told CPJ (Committee to
Protect Journalists) that he was abducted, tortured, and sexually assaulted in
an Islamabad suburb in September 2010.
There are many such cases which
prove the point that it all never catered to one thing, sex. But it is all in
the profession.
Hence, equal treatment should
be given to all the journalists irrespective of their gender. Gender should
never be the criteria to judge ones capabilities. It should be judged on the
person’s willingness to work and their passion.
As long as they are ready to
risk their lives and work in every possible condition, women should be sent to
places to cover their news. No restrictions should be put to someone’s
learning. Every individual should have the right to explore in their fields and
explore the world – be it in a positive or a negative way. There is way out
from every possible crisis; surely there is some way out here too.
NISHIT LALWANI.
REFERENCES:
Areas of Improvement-
ReplyDeleteOpening and the ending though nice, can be formed in a better way to grab attention.
Better use of vocabulary can help the article become more impactful.
Some places what the idea is tried to be conveyed is confusing, for instance in the 8th paragraph beginning with “ There are many…”
Proper sentence formation can help there.
Though it’s a good thing, the article contains a lot of real life incidences, having a lot of them can also put the readers off, Balancing them is necessary.
Positives-
I like the way the article progresses with proper transitions, with the subject of argument mentioned right in the first paragraph
The article is strong in the sense that, both the arguments, for and against are mentioned.
After establishing the argument and showing both the sides of the stories, the article conclusively ends with no biased opinions.