BEIRUT,November 28, 2017 - The 2nd Asian Women Sports Journalists Workshopkicked off in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, with the participation of 28 aspiringfemale journalists from 10 Asian countries. The workshop organized by AIPS Asia andthe Lebanese Sports Media Association (LSMA) and under the patronage ofLebanese Minister of Information Melhem Riachi, aims to enhancethe knowledge and reinforce the professional presence of the participants.
AIPS Asiapresident Sattam Alsahli, expressed his happiness for organization the event inLebanon. “We are proud to host this event in Lebanon as we aspire to organizemuch more workshops across the continent.” he said during the opening ceremony.
Riachi welcomedthe journalists and emphasized on the importance of the journalists’ job aroundthe world. “Journalism is a message in our society and is the advocate to protectthe public opinion. This is a first of its kind event happening in Lebanon andwe hope it is not the last.”
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For hispart, LSMA president Rasheed Nassar insisted on the importance of Lebanonhosting such an event despite the concerns over the past few weeks. He said: “LSMAwere keen to host this workshop to prove that Lebanon, despite all the crises,is a country that loves life. This event wouldn’t have happened if AIPS Asiahad no trust in us and in Lebanon. Sports press in Lebanon needs the support ofthe government and the state and LSMA will soon organize workshops and seminarsin order to improve sports press in the country.”
After theopening ceremony, May El Khalil, president of Beirut Marathon Association, whois considered one of the most powerful women in Lebanese society was the firstspeaker at the workshop. El Khalil spoke about “social commitment throughsports” and shared with the journalists her experience over the past 15 years,and how she managed to change the concept and idea of running in Lebanon toorganize the biggest annual sporting event of the year.
AIPS AsiaSecretary General Amjad Aziz Malik introduced the girls to the history andstructure of AIPS and AIPS Asia and how their roles improved throughout theyears.
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Lebanese TVsports presenter and anchor and former basketball player, Nathalie Mamo, whoworks currently at OSN after having worked at Sky News Arabia in Abu Dhabi andhosting the biggest Sports TV Reality show in the MENA region “The Victorious”on Dubai TV, spoke about the challenges she faced over her eight-year career
“Being awoman in this field is already the biggest challenge you face, because it sohard to convince people that you have a great knowledge, they would say “whoare you to speak about sports?”, but I managed to gain the trust of the peoplethrough credibility, it is the most important factor in our work and I earnedit with time.” She said
“The Victoriouswas the biggest challenge in my career, people do do not look at you in aserious way at the beginning, I will not call it sexual harassment, but they lookat you 'just' as a woman. There is a probably a lot of good speakers or good oncamera, but knowledge is the most important thing."
AIPS Asia ExecutiveCommittee member Hai Lun Chi who worked in radio, TV, newspaper and onlinemedia throughout the past 20 years, emphasized the importance of men andwomen having equal rights in all the fields, including journalism and sportsjournalism.
She said: “Weneed equal rights, whenever there is a big event, they tend to send men insteadof women to cover them. We have to improve our personal skills, break the barriersso we can achieve our goals.”
Theworkshop continues over the next three days with different activates andlecturers.
