ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the experiences of women and men journalists in the Arab region, taking Lebanon as a case study, given the country’s relative press freedoms and liberal culture. It questions the roles of organizational structures and institutionalized prejudice against women leaders in perpetuating a masculine newsroom culture that reinforces the glass ceiling. It also examines corporate policies on maternity leave and childcare, and highlights how women journalists attempt to overcome gender discrimination and rampant sexual harassment in the workplace and navigate socially divergent roles (mother/wife vs. successful career woman) in a patriarchal society. The chapter builds on several years of mixed-methods research, including two surveys of Lebanese journalists employed at various levels in the corporate hierarchy and a host of focus groups and qualitative interviews with journalists and news managers across the Lebanese news media landscape.
