Female journalists are behind some of the most important reporting from the most dangerous place in the world for the press. Woman, promote thyself!
A woman looks on as a Syrian rebel poses for the camera near Aleppo, Syria.
Muzaffar Salman / Reuters
In a small hotel near the Turkish border with Syria earlier this year, four female journalists shared a bottle of wine and some tips on entering what has become the world's most dangerous war zone for reporters.
Two were going in, and the other two had just come out of Aleppo. Their tips ranged from the usual war correspondent fare — safe roads and trusted translators — to the specific concerns of women in war zones: Which areas had recently become more conservative and required wearing a hijab, or other head covering? Who among the Syrian rebel commanders was more welcoming of a female journalist embed? What was the rumor mill saying about the local mayor known for getting a bit too hands-on with female reporters in the past?
"For the first time I look around and I see as many female journalists as males. Of course, we have specific security needs and issues, but finally the debate has moved on from 'should we go cover war' and into 'we are here covering war, how do we make it safer,'" said one British journalist with over 30 years of experience in conflict areas. "We might still be fighting to get noticed at awards and debates or to convince our editors that we should be on the frontlines, but to everyone who pays attention, women are taking the lead in Syria."
That's why she, along with dozens of other journalists, was infuriated when a Guardian article earlier this week asked, "Can girls even find Syria on a map?"
The author, feminist blogger Jill Filipovic, suggested that female voices have been absent from American conversation about Syria:
Can girls even find Syria on a map? If you're reading Syria coverage and opinion writing in major news publications, the answer would seem to be "no". The overwhelming majority of expert talking heads and op-ed writers on US intervention in Syria are male. It's not because men know more about the Middle East or foreign policy or war and security, it's because of long-standing and often unconscious assumptions about male power and competence, and how our media reinforce and perpetuate them.
Her article quickly circulated around the foreign press corps, who weren't shy about going online to protest Flipovic's column.
Rania Abouzeid, a former Time correspondent and regular contributor to the New Yorker whose work on Syria has been at the forefront of public debate and nominated for awards, took to twitter:
So did Liz Sly, the Washington Post Bureau Chief and longtime correspondent in the region.
