Three women journalists on the BBC’s list of 100 women of 2019
BBC’s annual list of 100 women of the year, this year includes three amazing women journalists. The list includes our colleagues Maria Ressa from Philippines, Asmaa James from Sierra Leone, and Sara Wesslin from Finland.
To see our colleagues among a diverse set of empowered women feels incredible and we are proud of the women journalists who have been recognized for their journalistic endeavors. For women, having a career trajectory as a journalist is packed with challenges, but our colleagues have stood their ground to let their work speak for them.
The resilient Maria Ressa from Philippines has been acknowledged for her courageous and outspoken take on President Duterte’s war on drugs that claimed several lives in the Southeast Asian country. The former CNN bureau chief and ABS-CBN News executive is currently the CEO and executive editor of the online news website Rappler. Maria was arrested twice this year following accusations of ‘cyber libel’ and received rape and death threats online for her critique. We are glad that Maria’s bravado in the midst of an authoritarian regime has become a beacon of hope for aspiring journalists in countries where press freedom is challenged time and again.
Sierra Leone’s Asmaa James has been recognized for her inspiring work surrounding rape and sexual violence in her country. To protest against the rise of rape and abuse of girls under 12, she kick started the Black Tuesday campaign that encouraged women to don black on the last Tuesday every month. Her powerful campaign drove the sitting president to declare a state of emergency on rape and reform policies surrounding sexual violence. The journalist’s dedication towards the community and her social endeavors deserved to be recognized and her inclusion in the list makes us proud, as she is committed to engage with the government to amend weak laws in her country and hold the perpetrators accountable.
Sara Wesslin from Finland is one of only two journalists working in the endangered Skolt Sami language in broadcast journalism. She has been reporting for YLE Sápmi in Northern Finland and is known to have lobbied to save her indigenous native language. Sara’s hustle led her to convince the country’s education minister to provide funds for the Sami to be taught to keep it alive for generations to come. She takes pride in being able to use her grandmother’s language in radio, web-news and television news, through which she has instilled among people to learn and understand the language. The work Sara has done as a journalist is praiseworthy, for she uses journalism as a tool to inculcate the love of one’s native language and be proud of one’s roots in its entirety.
We, at The Coalition For Women In Journalism, are excited to see these women journalists get acknowledged for their work. The need for encouraging and praising women journalists is crucial at a time when they are facing a variety of challenges across the world for their work. It is important to let them know that their work matters and their opinions matter.
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The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world, and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
For more information please visit www.womeninjournalism.org.
Press Inquiries: press@womeninjournalism.org
