JEDDAH, 24 May 2006 — The Ministry of Culture and Information assigned the first woman to be a Saudi Radio programming director yesterday.
Dalal Dia has been assigned to the position of director of the station’s Second Program unofficially and temporarily. The second program airs 24 hours a day Arabic-language programming, including news. Jeddah Radio airs other programs and in other languages through its 19 departments.
“This is a transitional period as the previous director of the second program was promoted so I was assigned to take over temporarily, but I have not been officially appointed,” said Dalal Dia to Arab News. “Either way I’m honored and it is not about the job title but about doing the work that we will continue to develop as we prepare for the new season of programming.”
Dia is a thirty-year veteran of radio. She was the first to establish and supervise family and child programming and was the administration director of the women’s department at Jeddah Radio before resigning in 1997.
