ABSTRACT
Development across the Arab world is being hindered by gender inequality. This chapter draws on examples of both kinds of programming—those with single-sex and those with mixed-sex panels—to assess Al Jazeera’s contribution, if any, towards rectifying women’s empowerment deficit in the Arab world. Growth in viewership and in the number of talk shows focusing on socio-political issues created an unprecedented opportunity for televised debates on women’s status in the region. In embarking on a discussion of television’s capacity to empower women, it is useful to ask from the outset whether the medium is naturally equipped to redress women’s lack of power in society or whether it is more likely to reflect it. Women’s employment in media institutions and media portrayal of women were identified as key global concerns in the Beijing Platform for Action at the Fourth World Conference on Women in China in 1995.
