Abstract:

The news media plays a powerful role in women’s empowerment and advancement and in so doing has a significant impact on international security. Women’s empowerment and leadership is an international security issue because, as the Women, Peace and Security Agenda (WPS) contends, women’s full involvement in all peace and security decisions is essential to global stability and prosperity. News media is an influential tool for advancing WPS because strategically planned content can influence social values directly related to WPS such as encouraging female literacy and education, reducing gender bias, supporting women’s leadership and political participation, and combatting gender-based violence. Conversely, news media that reflects accepted cultural norms, regardless of bias or repressive or violent characterizations, reinforces and strengthens existing gender imbalances.

This paradoxical relationship between news media’s influence and women’s empowerment presents challenges for every society, but has been especially challenging for cultures in the Arabian Gulf as they balance modernization and the influx of liberal Western influences with longstanding conservative tribal traditions. The State of Qatar (Qatar), in particular, stands out due to its influential Al Jazeera Media Network (Al Jazeera), and official stance on advancing WPS and increasing women’s participation in leadership, the economy, politics, and peacebuilding. While Qatar has positioned itself as a modern, educated and open society, there is a disconnect between policy and practice; current Qatari media does not reflect WPS policies. This chapter will therefore explain how WPS connects with the news media, examine the status of WPS and media in Qatar, and make policy recommendations.