RIYADH, 13 January 2004 — Buthaina Al-Nasr made history by becoming the first Saudi woman to read the opening news bulletin of the Kingdom’s all-news satellite channel launched on Sunday.
Modestly dressed in a black headscarf and white jacket, Buthaina read the news with incredible confidence. Reema Al-Shamikh and Sausan Abdul Qader were the other two Saudi female news anchors who appeared on the new channel.
Buthaina worked for MBC FM and ART (Arab Radio and Television) before switching to Al-Ikhbariya. She covered local events including the separation of the Egyptian Siamese twins at a Riyadh hospital and the human rights conference in the capital.
“Some of the things they say about women in our country aren’t right. This channel will have women reading the news and will also discuss social issues related to women,” says the station’s director Muhammad Barayan.
Speaking to Arab News on condition of anonymity, one of the three female news anchors said, “It’s a historic thing that should have happened long time ago.”
“We want the Saudi people to feel that the person reading the news to them is like their sister or mother, one of their own kin,” she added.
Referring to some remarks she and the others could receive from ultraconservatives in Saudi society about them appearing with uncovered faces, she said, “I am appearing on television in my full hijab. I am not trying to go beyond the norms in our society. The way I appear on television is exactly the way I would appear on the street.”
She said Saudi society needed to develop itself like the rest of the world and that women must be involved in social development. “We’re in the 21st century,” she said. “I am doing a national duty. This is my country and there is nothing wrong with what I am doing.”
She hoped that the negative remarks emanating from a lack of awareness would dissolve with the passage of time.
Al-Ikhbariya will broadcast in Arabic for 12 hours a day before stepping up to round-the-clock programming, the director said.
Barayan said the state-owned channel would correct false perceptions about the Kingdom, including some about the role of Saudi women.
“We want to tell the world about our country, to give it a new image,” he said. “The American media ... put out things about Saudi Arabia that are not true — like that Saudi Arabia is not fighting extremists.”
Al-Ikhbariya has around 25 correspondents in Saudi Arabia and another 20 abroad, Barayan said. Although aimed at Saudi Arabia and the Arab world, it hopes to broadcast live debates with figures in the United States and Europe, and might include English-language programs when it moves to 24-hour broadcasting, he said.
“We will let Saudis discuss issues by satellite with people in the United States and Britain. We want them to debate things, and help the audience understand who is right and who is wrong,” he added.
Saudi Arabia already has three national television channels, including one English-language station but most Saudis ignore them in favor of livelier programs aired by the Arab satellite channels Al-Jazeera in neighboring Qatar and Al-Arabiya in Dubai.
Businessman Hassan Al-Husseini said the channel’s rolling news format and slicker presentation would attract viewers. “If you want local Saudi news, the only choice right now is the staid, all-male Channel One. This will be a bit more pleasant and accessible,” he said.
