By Rose Spaziani

 

Bias, gender and journalism were just some of the overlapping themes discussed by the Oct. 12 panel Women Covering War: The Human Dimension at AOL. The discussion, moderated by award-winning broadcaster Lynn Sherr, featured three panelists: Kimberly Dozier, Associated Press Correspondent; Jan Goodwin, human rights activist, writer and award-winning journalist with a focus on war, conflict and human rights; and Eman Kassem, an Arab-Israeli news broadcaster based in Jerusalem. Though their career paths vary, all of the women have risked their lives to cover the injustices of wars around the globe.

 

Questions ranged from whether gender makes a difference in reporting wars to the panelists’ perspective on the obstacles facing women in war zones. Their answers often clarified misconceptions about their field. “What popular culture hasn’t caught up with is how many women are doing the job,” remarked Kimberly, referring to women journalists covering wars as well as aid workers and soldiers who are underreported in the media. “There are so many women out there; they are such a vocal presence that I don’t feel like a minority out there.”

 

Despite the growing presence of women in war zones, the panelists acknowledged that they were likely targets: Kimberly survived a car bombing in Iraq that killed fellow colleagues and a U.S. army captain. Jan was jailed twice while on humanitarian missions, and Eman’s office is located in the so-called “Death Triangle” in Jerusalem.

 

The panelists recounted some of their most difficult experiences with humor. Jan was targeted on a death list and jailed in Pakistan, and yet she chuckles as she describes her response to interrogators who accused her of spying for the CIA: “I said ‘Give me a break. I work for the Ladies’ Home Journal.’ ”

 

Violence compounds other gender obstacles faced by these women. Eman feels pressure to strike the right balance: In her culture, views of women with high-octane careers disdain female ambition. “The attitudes towards women are usually: ‘You are doing this [career] but not doing the things you should be doing at home,’ ” she explains.

 

Kimberly offered another angle on the obstacles facing women war correspondents: As a veteran TV news reporter, she has observed that media executives appear to hesitate at ramping up the number of women war reporters at the networks to the point that in many U.S. media organizations there can only be one female war correspondent.

 

While the panelists’ viewpoints differed at times, they all responded unanimously to the question about how they dealt with things they witnessed that made them angry. All three acknowledged that channeling their emotions to tell a story was an advantage. There is room for advocacy journalism and anger, says Jan. She recalls how outraged she felt about the rapes and mutilations that she learned of while working in the Congo. “I think when you have deadened emotions you should get out of this business.”