Tag: Press Freedom from the Perspective of Women Journalists

It would have been surprising if women took up as much space in Algerian media as men do, when they only exist as a minority in the public sphere. If one were to rely on television broadcasts, they would think that Algeria is a country devoid of women, as this is what the images broadcast on national news imply. To find these women, one must be interested in the cooking, family, beauty, and tabloid sections.

In a regime that severely restricts the freedom of the press and represses the opposition, those who defend the Kurdish people, considered to be the main enemy of the state, are especially at risk. Numerous journalists, writers, intellectuals, artists and activists accused of terrorism and of supporting the PKK, are imprisoned and many seek asylum abroad. A documentary tells the story of some of them who have become symbols of the struggle for justice and freedom.

I never thought that this day would come again—the day that exercising my profession as a journalist would become scary.

Two weeks before the publication of my investigative piece, and just one day after Decree 54 was issued, the director of Bolt in Tunisia called me, threatening to sue me according to this new decree. He bragged about the decree’s various articles that could lead to a prison sentence, fully intending to intimidate me and stop me from publishing the investigative piece. That was when I realized that this decree would be used like a sword, hung above journalists’ necks.

Young Algerian women have gradually gained more and more access to newsrooms, but this access has only increased their numbers in these spaces, not their decision-making power. In fact, women are often relegated to tackling the “light” topics, even though they exclusively possess inherent knowledge about violence against women, and about women’s issues in general. All themes that are still only marginally present in Algerian media.

Today, as we mark World Press Freedom Day 2023, the director of Radio M is behind bars. I lost my job after the headquarters was sealed, but I am still convinced that even though the body may be imprisoned and the premises sealed, ideas and free speech cannot be imprisoned, no matter how frequent and sharpened the attempts.