Yeganeh Rezaian, Joan Shorenstein Fellow (fall 2016) and Iranian journalist, talks about her new paper, "How Women Journalists Are Silenced in a Man's World: The Double-Edged Sword of Reporting from Muslim Countries," available to read in full at shorensteincenter.org. The paper shines a light on the difficulties women reporters face while working in Muslim countries, as well as the importance of the stories they tell. Rezaian, who formerly worked for Bloomberg News and The National, was imprisoned in Tehran along with her husband Jason Rezaian of The Washington Post. She shares her own stories of being silenced and harassed, as well as those of other women reporters. In addition to imprisonment, women journalists in Muslim countries can experience online harassment and blackmail, defamation of character, unwanted advances in exchange for access, and the expectation to ask softball questions of officials, among other problems. Despite these challenges, women reporters continue to work to tell important stories in the region. Rezaian’s access as a woman has allowed her to cover topics that a newsroom may otherwise ignore, or that a man could not cover in a conservative religious setting. Rezaian writes that now that she is free from the restrictions of the Islamic Republic, she has a responsibility to her fellow journalists—who may not have the freedom to speak out—to raise awareness of these issues. 

Full paper: https://shorensteincenter.org/women-journalists-muslim-countries-yeganeh-rezaian/