Emirati Women Journalists: Bargaining with Patriarchy in Search of Equality

This book presents a rare investigation of the media landscape and gender dynamics in Emirati newsrooms, with a socio-cultural focus on the influence of tribal patriarchalism in determining Emirati women’s role as newsmakers.

Shedding light on the stories of 40 Emirati and Arab expat journalists, including pioneer Emirati women journalists, the book offers insight into how these journalists construct gender differences and identity and how this influences their everyday attitudes, conversations, routines, and journalistic practices. The empirical study is supplanted with ethnographic explanations of the newsroom norms and journalistic practices from the author, who used participant observation inside two major news centres in Abu Dhabi and Dubai to understand the socio-cultural factors that shape the lives of Emirati and Arab expat journalists, their thoughts and beliefs about the media environment in the Emirates, and their opinions on authoritarian political control, censorship, and outdated media law.

This book will interest students and scholars of journalism and journalistic practice, media policy, international journalism, gender studies, and Middle East studies.

Noura Al Obeidli is a research fellow at the Humanities Fellowship Program for the Study of the Arab World in New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD). Her work in the field of feminist media studies began at the University of Westminster, where she defended her doctoral dissertation in April 2020.