... went to Afghanistan, as a photo journalist. It got me thinking, 'why would I do this? this could get me killed.' but I love this job, I love telling untold stories through my photos...Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian female journalists talked about gender equality and the twists and turn of being female journalists in a male-dominated journalistic world at the cultural center of the United States in Indonesia, @america, in Jakarta, on Tuesday.
Three female journalists were invited as panelists to share their inspirational stories and long journey on being a journalist, namely Maria Rita Hasugian, a conflict journalist for Tempo; Hana Farhana Fauzie, a sports journalist for Sindo Newspaper; and Adek Berry, a photo journalist for AFP News Agency (Agence France Presse).
Those three women shared how they were treated differently while doing their job as a journalist, while at the same time, none of them felt like journalism is a one gender field.
Fauzie said that she was once called “delicate” and underestimated by a fellow journalist just because of her gender.
She added that many people still thought that being a sports journalist was supposed to be a male’s job, since there are not a lot of female journalists in her field.
“But, media industry is for everybody, it is never about your gender. It is all about your passion and skills,” Fauzie said.
For the three panelists, being a journalist was a decision that was chosen purely out of love for journalism.
Berry, for instance, told a story of how she chose to pursue her dream in photography, instead of doing a job related to her degree, which was agricultural technology.
“I went to Afghanistan, as a photo journalist. It got me thinking, ‘why would I do this? this could get me killed.’ but I love this job, I love telling untold stories through my photos,” said Berry.
During the discussion, the three panelists were also encouraging young aspiring journalists, especially female, to pursue their dream in journalism, and to be brave so that their voices could be heard louder.
This event was held by the Embassy of the United States of America to celebrate the International Women’s Day that occurred on the 8th of March.
Reporter: Azizah Fitriyanti, Safira Noor
Editor: Ade P Marboen
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
