WestminsterResearch http://www.westminster.ac.uk/westminsterresearch Emirati women journalists bargaining with patriarchy in search of equality Al Obeidli, N. This is an electronic version of a PhD thesis awarded by the University of Westminster. © Miss Noura Al Obeidli, 2020. The WestminsterResearch online digital archive at the University of Westminster aims to make the research output of the University available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the authors and/or copyright owners. EMIRATI WOMEN JOURNALISTS BARGAINING WITH PATRIARCHY IN SEARCH OF EQUALITY1 N. AL OBEIDLI PhD 2020 1 The researcher would like to acknowledge that the title of this thesis was inspired by Deniz Kandiyoti’s articles which were published twice, first in 1988 as Bargaining with Patriarchy: Gender and Society, and second in 1998 as Gender, Power and Contestation: Rethinking Bargaining with Patriarchy. For a complete description, please see the list of references section. EMIRATI WOMEN JOURNALISTS BARGAINING WITH PATRIARCHY IN SEARCH OF EQUALITY NOURA AL OBEIDLI A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the University of Westminster for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy This research programme was carried out under the scholarship of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Higher Education Grant in The United Arab Emirates January 2020 ABSTRACT In recent years, arguments have been made about the absence of Emirati women journalists in analyzing political and economic news stories. The role of Emirati women in journalism has been and remains anonymous. They are rarely seen taking part in this field, in comparison with their peers in other states in the Arabian Peninsula, particularly in Kuwait and Bahrain, where women have reported on complex political and social issues since the 1960s and 1970s. In addition, the field of broadcast media and journalism has proven to be a challenging one for Emirati women to enter, due to socio-cultural constraints set by a patriarchal society that prefers the practise of traditional gender roles. To shed light on this phenomenon, this doctoral research will present an in-depth study of media development and the emergence of women’s journalism in the UAE, using two types of empirical research methodology. The first is participant observation, which took place at Dubai Media Incorporated’s news centre (Dubai TV) and Abu Dhabi Media Company’s news centre (Abu Dhabi Channel One). The second is semi- structured interviews, in which 40 Emirati and Arab expat journalists were interviewed, and were categorized based on gender, with 30 females and 10 males, and stratification. For the latter, journalists were divided into two generational groups: journalists who belong to ‘the early generation’, between the ages of 30 and 60, who practised journalism from the 1970s to the 1990s; and journalists who belong to ‘the new generation’, who are in their 20s, and started practising journalism from the year 2000 onward. This research will make a significant contribution to the study of Gulf and Arab media and gender studies, as it is the first to investigate gender dynamics in Emirati newsrooms, and in particular the influence of tribal and patriarchal culture in determining Emirati women’s roles as newsmakers. It is also the first to observe and document the newsroom norms and journalistic practises in the Emirates, which are delimited by an oppressive 40-year-old media law, authoritarian political power control, and censorship. Therefore, this study highlights specific themes that are under- examined in the Emirates, including gender dynamics and self-censorship practises in iii the newsroom. It is also the first empirical study to use ethnography in order to examine these themes. iv To My Mother, Layla For breaking the mold, and for teaching me that my life as an individual, with all its opportunities, choices, and decisions, belongs to me alone, and not to any man. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................................... III TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................................. VI PREFACE ......................................................................................................................................................... IX ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .................................................................................................................................. X DECLARATION .............................................................................................................................................. XII DEFINITIONS .............................................................................................................................................. XIII CHAPTER ONE ................................................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Rationale and Justification for the Research ......................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Women and the Press in the UAE ............................................................................................................................... 5 1.3 The Research’s Aims and Objectives .......................................................................................................................... 7 1.4 Breakdown of Chapters .................................................................................................................................................. 8 CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................................................. 11 Literature Review .................................................................................................................................................................. 11 2.1 Tribalism and Family in the Gulf ............................................................................................................................. 19 2.2 Women, Journalism and Newsroom Practises ................................................................................................... 26 2.3 Women and Nation-Building .................................................................................................................................... 31 2.4 The Approach of this Doctoral Research .............................................................................................................. 46 CHAPTER THREE ......................................................................................................................................... 50 Research Methodology ........................................................................................................................................................ 50 Ethnography ............................................................................................................................................................................ 50 3.1 Participant Observation .............................................................................................................................................. 52 3.2 Semi-Structured Interviews ....................................................................................................................................... 56 CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................................................................................... 63 vi The Media Landscape and State Control in the Emirates .................................................................................... 63 4.1 The History of Government Control Over the Media ....................................................................................... 65 4.2 The Code of Ethics and Journalism Practises ..................................................................................................... 71 CHAPTER FIVE ............................................................................................................................................. 80 The Journalistic Experience of Emirati Women ....................................................................................................... 80 Part One of the Participant Observation and the Semi-Structured Interviews Analysis ........................ 80 5.1 Elements of Gendered Newsroom Practises ........................................................................................................ 81 5.2 Elements of Non-Gendered Newsroom Practises .......................................................................................... 101 5.3 Summary and Conclusion………………………………...…………………………………………………………………118 CHAPTER SIX .............................................................................................................................................. 119 Gender, Media and the Social Structure in the Emirates ................................................................................... 119 Part Two of the Participant Observation and the Semi-Structured Interviews Analysis .................... 119 6.1 Impacts of