A female journalist in Saudi Arabia made history as she became the first woman news presenter to deliver an evening newscast on state-owned television.
Weam Al Dakheel garnered a lot of attention after she was seen co-hosting the news bulletin alongside a male news anchor. Appearing on Saudi TV alongside anchor Omar Al Nashwan, she became the first female in the history of state-owned Channel 1 to present the nightly 9:30 newscast.
“Traditionally, men have dominated hard newscasts in Saudi Arabia, while female presenters focused more on soft morning newscasts, women’s programmes, cooking shows and weather updates,” The Khaleej Times reported explaining why it was a big moment.
#فيديو | تحالف دعم الشرعية: عملياتنا مستمرة ضد السفن المشبوهة التي تهدد الملاحة الدولية في البحر الأحمر. pic.twitter.com/54xl02356f
— قناة السعودية 🇸🇦 (@saudiatv) September 24, 2018
“Jumanah AlShami was the first women to present morning newscasts in 2016. Today history repeats itself as #WeamAlDakheel becomes the presenter of the main nightly newscast, setting a precedent in a historic first for Saudi TV 1,” the channel said on its official Twitter handle on Thursday.
Her new role comes a year after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman unveiled his “Vision 2030” plan to modernise the kingdom and take major steps towards women empowerment.
