“On Being an International Female Journalist”

Graduate Student Research Symposium

Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021 | 17:00 GMT/UTC | 7:00PM, Beirut, Lebanon|
11:00AM, Lubbock, Texas| 9:00AM, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.

The College of Media & Communication will host a virtual symposium with international female journalists Adela Navarro Bello, General Director, Zeta magazine, Tijuana, Mexico and keynote speaker Zeina Khodr, Senior International  Correspondent, Al-Jazeera English Television Channel.

The event is free and open to everyone. 

Please register via: Gabriel.Partida@ttu.edu

On this event page you can read about speaker keynote speaker Zeina Khodr, special guest Adela Navarro Bello, view the event schedule and see all symposium presentation abstracts.

Read Speaker Bios

About Keynote Speaker Zeina Khodr, Senior International Correspondent, Al-Jazeera English Television Channel

Zeina Khodr is based in Beirut, Lebanon. She has reported for the Al-Jazeera English TV channel since its launching in 2006. She is a Lebanese who was born and raised in the Philippines. She returned to Lebanon in 1986, at the height of the civil war.

She graduated from the American School of Beirut and the American University of Beirut where she earned a BA degree in political science.

She has covered wars and political conflicts in many countries. Since the Arab Spring of 2010/2011 her reporting has mainly focused on the Middle East: Syria, Libya, Tunisia & Egypt

She has also covered Iraq, Iran, the ISIL/ISIS takeover of a third of Iraq and Northern Syria, as well as the battle against ISIL/ISIS. 

She has also reported on Turkey, the migrant/refugee crisis in Europe, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

She has won numerous awards and has been nominated for others. These include:

• Sky Women in Film and TV Awards (WFTV UK).
• The ITV Achievement of the Year Award', for her coverage of the Fall of Tripoli.
• Nominated for the prestigious News award for coverage of the fall of Tripoli (Monte-Carlo Television Festival)
• Nominated for the New York Emmy awards for her coverage of the Fall of Tripoli, Libya.

About Special Guest Adela Navarro Bello, General Director, Zeta magazine, Tijuana, Mexico

Adela Navarro Bello is an award-winning investigative journalist from Mexico. She is the general director of the Tijuana weekly magazine, Zeta, where she has been employed since 1990. Zeta is famous for its high-risk reporting on organized crime, drug trafficking, human trafficking, and corruption in Mexico's border cities.  Multiple editors and reporters working for Zeta have been murdered. This has not deterred Navarro. She has had a distinguished career covering major crisis like the Chiapas conflict, corruption in the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and the National Action Party (PAN). Despite pressures from corrupt government officials and drug cartels, she has not relented. Her motto is that: "Every time a journalist self-censors, the whole society loses". In 1994, Navarro became the first woman on Zeta's five-person editorial board. In January 2010, US law enforcement notified Navarro of death threats from the Tijuana Cartel, causing the Mexican government to assign her seven soldiers as bodyguards.

Navarro has won multiple awards including the International Press Award from the Committed to Protect Journalists and the International Women's Media Foundation Courage in Journalism Award. 

Event Schedule

(Listed times are Central Standard Time).

11:00 AM: Welcome and General Introduction (Lyombe Eko, Professor & TTU Faculty Senate Liaison at the Office of International Affairs).

11:15 AM:  Introduction of Zeina Khodr, Senior Correspondent, Al–Jazeera TV English Channel, Beirut, Lebanon (Rob Peaslee, Chair, Department of Journalism and Creative Media Industries).

Short video of Zeina Khodr & Keynote Address

11:45 AM: Introduction of Special Guest, Adela Navarro Bello, General Director, Zeta magazine, Tijuana, Mexico (Kent Wilkinson, Director, Harris Institute for Hispanic and International Communication).

Short Video of Adela Navarro Bello & Special Guest Address

12:15 PM: Remarks and Presentation of “Excellence in International Journalism and Human Rights Award” to Zeina Khodr & Adela Navarro Bello (Dean David Perlmutter, College of Media and Communication).

12:30 PM: Question and Answer session with Zeina Khodr and Adela Navarro Bello.

1: 00 PM: Lunch Break

1:15 PM: Graduate Student Presentations (Introduction: Lyombe Eko)

Breakout Sessions (Concurrent) View All Presentation Abstracts

Session 1: The Hazards of Being A Female International Journalist

(Respondent: Uyanga Bazaa, Mongolia & TTU).

Julie Grandjean

Governmentality and Female Journalists: A Comparative Case Study of Two Newswomen in Russia and Cuba.

Kaylee Hinton

Fake News Charges and Journalists Behind Bars: The Case of Mimi Mefo of Cameroon.

Charles Shipp

Every Female Journalist For Herself: Dolores Guadalupe García Escamilla of Mexico.

Session 2: Reporting Internationally While Female

(Respondent Lamia Zia, TTU & Pakistan)

Natalie Stanislaus

The Hazards of Being an International Female Journalist: A Comparative Case Study of German Photojournalist, Anja Niedringhaus, and Ukrainian Journalist, Anhar Kochneva.

Dharius Timmons

Gender- Based Sexual Assault Against Female Reporters: The Case of CBS' Lara Logan in Tahrir Square, Egypt.

Meagan Messina

Whistle Blower Turned Martyr: The Tale of Maltese Journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia.

2:00 PM: Reassemble in Main Zoom Session for Responses and Q & A with presenters

2:30 PM: Concluding Comments: Coy Callison, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies.

 

Additional Information: Leo.eko@ttu.edu

Co-sponsored by: The Thomas Jay Harris Institute for Hispanic and International Communication (HIHIC) and Department of Journalism & Creative Media Industries (JCMI)

International Communication and Logistics:
Lyombe Eko, Journalism & Creative Media Industries
Gabriel Dominguez Partida, Assistant Director - Harris Institute for Hispanic and International Communication (HIHIC)
Pamela Watkins, Dean's Office, College of Media and Communication.