Shereen Karim: Pioneering digital journalism in Gilgit-Baltistan
In the male-dominated media environment of northern Pakistan, women in journalism are often marginalised by their families, colleagues, and the media community. In an exclusive interview, freelance journalist Shereen Karim shares her experiences, challenges and aspirations as a freelancer woman journalist in Gilgit, writes Lubna Jerar Naqvi.
Shereen is one of the few women journalists working in a conservative society. She holds an MSc in Media and Communications and Journalism and has worked as a journalist for eight years.
Shereen is a freelance journalist who mainly covers stories about gender-based violence and women’s issues, especially about working women, social issues, and climate change. She has done features for Independent Urdu, investigative reports for the Pakistan Press Foundation, and commissioned vlogs for BBC Urdu.
“I never planned to join journalism; I came into this profession by chance. At that time, no other women journalists were working in the field,” Shereen said. “There was one woman journalist who worked in the entire Gilgit-Baltistan, and she worked from home, only going to the office once or twice a week.”
While the societal change in Gilgit-Baltistan is slow, the number of women journalists has increased from one to three. Shereen added, “Slowly, the number increased to three, but even then, I was the only one working outdoors in the field. It was quite a strange experience working in the field as the only woman journalist among so many men – it is rare to see a woman working in the field.”
She admits she felt strange working as the only woman in the field. Throughout her career, she’s had to face some problems at the beginning when the men didn’t cooperate with her or accept her.
Male journalists sometimes need help for women journalists, making it difficult for them to complete their work. “It is up to us to tackle and handle the situation in a way that doesn’t offend anyone’s sensibilities and respects the local traditions. Many men tell women journalists to sit at home or get married or join a government job which is considered respectable. As a freelancer, I don’t get paid well and sometimes not at all, but I can’t tell my family as they will make me leave journalism and sit at home.”
However, Shereen has not been deterred from journalism and is determined to keep doing her job as she is the only one who can speak up for the women in her area.
“I began working for Ausaf – a newspaper – reporting and feature writing. And then I moved to another newspaper because I was not given a salary. I joined Daily Salam – a local newspaper of Gilgit – and worked there for some time. They did not pay me either. That was a big issue, but this was not because of my gender; none of the journalists was paid regardless of their gender. Some reporters got a nominal pay.”
At this time, Gilgit needed access to digital media, and newspapers were the only place journalists could find work. Realising early that digital media would take over the media scene, Shereen began working for digital outlets, but even they didn’t pay. So, she set up her digital platform.
“I have set up my digital platform called Woman TV GB. It is a web channel on YouTube linked to other social platforms. My friend and I work on generating content for this, and we upload news that focuses on women’s issues in the area. Apart from this, I also set up my vlogging channel called Sheen TV. And I report on climate change stories through the gender lens.”
Even though there are few woman journalists in the region, Shereen is not a member of her press club.
“I am not a permanent member of the press club but an associated member. The press club has not given me a permanent membership as the press club requires an appointment letter to ascertain whether one is a journalist. Since I don’t work for a newspaper or broadcast channel, I am not given the membership. The newspapers I worked for were not paying me, so they didn’t give me an appointment letter.”
Shereen doesn’t get money for her work, and the little she does is not enough to support her or her journalism. So, she looks for grants to pay for her work. “I look for grants or fellowships that pay for a story; that’s how I work. I focus on gender or climate issues; the problem is that we don’t get much data on these topics, so it becomes difficult to do these stories.”
She added that working in a conservative society as a journalist is challenging enough, as she has many chores around the house that she is expected to complete to avoid excuses preventing her from working.
“Digital media has helped to get our stories out there, but I don’t earn from my digital platforms yet. I am trying to monetise my channels,” Shereen said.
She added, “When I worked for the newspaper, I had to find a way to travel to other areas to get a story. No transport is available where women can travel in our area, so it isn’t easy to commute. If I want to cover some story far away, going there is quite troublesome. The public transport is not that good, and there is much harassment in that too.”
Shereen is planning to save up and buy a car to help, “I am planning to buy a car so that I have my transport to report on stories far away from my area. I also want to set up an office for my channel to highlight women’s issues and voices and provide other women journalists and media students with a safe media outlet to work in.”
Speaking about harassment and sexual harassment, Shereen said, “I have not faced any major sexual harassment in the workplace, but like other women, I also face the general kind of harassment. In our areas, women working outside their homes are targeted more. I have never sought help if I am harassed and have tackled it myself. Online I have blocked many people and generally ignore harassers.”
She has been part of some international training organised by the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation and was selected twice to attend the training session in Nepal. She said she learned many new things and improved her skills to report better.
“I learned to make documentaries, and with the foreign exposure I got from travelling abroad, I became confident, and it helped me to work harder and survive as a journalist.”
Shereen Karim is a pathfinder who finds a path for herself and makes one for those who will follow.
Lubna Jerar Naqvi is a freelance journalist and the Pakistan Gender Coordinator of the IFJ Asia Pacific.
Source: IFJ
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