As soon as I was accepted into Northwestern University in Qatar, I started looking for jobs. I ended up getting an internship with Gulf Times, a local newspaper in Doha. I wanted to go out and interview people. I wanted to experience being a “journalist.” Having seen my mom work previously in a newspaper as an events co-coordinator at a local newspaper in Oman, I was exposed to the work atmosphere in a newspaper and was excited to experience it myself after so many years.
Work started out with re-writing news reviews and brainstorming new ideas for articles. My first assignment was relatively easy: a write-up on the ongoing summer camps in Doha. As time passed, I progressed to work that required me to go out to public places and interview people of different cultures and nationalities. My editors told me I needed a picture of every person I interviewed.
I experienced firsthand how hesitant people are to voice their opinions here. For one culture column, I asked questions based on culture, such as “How do you think your country is perceived globally?” Even when I did persuade them to answer my questions, the idea of their pictures being printed became an obstacle.
The idea of a “woman journalist” isn’t something people are completely comfortable with. The interaction between local men and expatriate women is not widespread outside university campuses. And female journalists aren’t taken very seriously in Qatar yet. The male reporter who was working with me on the culture column seemed to breeze through his interviews with locals.
Moreover, interviewing local women was close to impossible. Not only did language sometimes pose a hurdle, but the idea of having their opinion published along with a picture isn’t something women in Qatar are very comfortable doing.
The status of women in this country has come a long way from what it used to be, starting with women receiving the right to vote for the Central Municipal Council in 1999 to making important decisions concerning the government. But journalism as a career is just starting out here.
By inviting Northwestern University, a school renowned for its high ranked communication and journalism program, to set up its branch university in the country, Qatar is trying to bridge these differences. In addition, Her Highness Sheikha Mozah, wife of the Emir of Qatar, gives great eminence to the role of Qatari women and has shaped an environment that encourages them to meet their social obligations and contribute to the civic life as well. This is a change from the traditional function of women and is regarded as a vital sign in the progress of Qatari society.
These steps are the stepping-stones to achieving the vision Qatar has dreamt, and is on the path to making it true. This country, with its foresight and desire to make it big, is not far from turning (into) one that will be looked up to.
Nayaab Shaikh is a freshman at Northwestern University in Qatar. She and other students will write about their experiences in the Middle East throughout the school year.
