JEDDAH, 25 May 2004 — Twenty-four students from the Turkish International School visited Arab News yesterday morning to learn about what is involved in producing a newspaper.
Present to meet the students were journalists Essam Al-Ghalib, Maha Akeel, T. Cordeiro and Somaya Jabarti. The students took part in a question and answer session on a variety of subjects with the journalists.
Four of the students, all girls, expressed an interest in becoming journalists and arrived with pen, paper, audio recorder and cameras in hand. They asked questions about news gathering, processing and presentation.
The students were surprised to learn that Arab News employs female reporters and editors.
One student asked what the hardest thing about being a female journalist in Saudi Arabia was.
Maha Akeel told the students, “The fact that I cannot drive slows me down. Whenever I need to go cover something quickly, it is difficult because I have to arrange to be driven, unlike the male reporters.”
The students and their two accompanying teachers were taken for a tour of the printing press where they saw thousands of copies of a sister publication being printed.
The students then presented Essam Al-Ghalib with a Turkish International School pen set and a box of Turkish delight.
