Current data from Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority [PEMRA] shows that Pakistan today has at least 142 satellite television channels, 36 authorized international channels and 235 FM radio stations. This contrasts to 2018 data (also from PEMRA) that shows the total number of channels sitting at just 88, of which only 26 were news channels, 37 were entertainment channels and 18 were regional language channels.

In this context, it’s fair to say that Pakistan’s media industry has actually been growing – at least in the broadcast arena and that power within the digital media market cannot be understated – especially for the growing ranks of women who are forging successful careers.

Today, 64% of Pakistanis are under 30 and are a digital-savvy cohort that consumes news entirely differently from the generations that came before them in spaces like TikTok and Instagram. Within media houses, as a result, now every digital online news platform has its own separate social media desk and hire social media specialists to engage this influential market.

In this rapidly evolving dynamic, there is one newsroom that is also changing the story for women working in journalism and, hopefully, leading the way for others to follow.

Dawn.com currently has 25 newsroom staff, of which 20 are women – flipping the usual gender representation of women in newsrooms on its head.

Women’s Media Forum Pakistan (WMFP) mapping data confirms that Dawn.com is the only news house in the country where women actually outnumber men. In key media houses like Geo, women comprise approximately 20-25 per cent of its workforce. The overall picture in Baluchistan newsrooms is dire, where it appears most newsrooms seem to have a token one-woman journalist policy. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, most newsrooms have around two women, and Punjab [in general] follows the same pattern. Regional media house gender representation is generally abysmal if non-existent.

But in its 2024 mapping report, the Women’s Media Forum Pakistan (WMFP) – together with the IFJ – also found some bright spots – in terms of newsroom gender gaps, working atmosphere, CBAs and labour rights. Among them, Dawn.com is setting a new example of a working environment where female journalists are not only acknowledged for their competencies, efficiencies and professionalism – as equal to men – but they have a better working environment to support their specific issues as women.

According to Dawn Digital’s head, Farhan Khan, the outlet’s working atmosphere plays an important role. It’s more professional, and women have an open space to work with flexible hours and the possibility of working from home. Gender bias or intolerance is not acceptable in this newsroom, he says.

Salary or increments depend on staff achievements, with medical benefits and a fuel card also include in the employment package, along with an equal leave policy and full maternity leave are honoured as prescribed under law.

Unfortunately, WMFP mapping has found that too many media houses do not honour both maternity and paternity leave. So, media outlets like Dawn are, sadly, the exception rather than the rule.

Deputy editor of Dawn.com Zahrah Mazhar emphasises that the media outlet is trying to address the gender gap, and that includes creating a comfortable and safe working atmosphere for both women and men.

“We know our society, so there is no concept of midnight or night shift, work from home is the solution,” she says. “Dawn.com employees can be signed on without any discrimination or gender emphasis, they all feel that they don’t have any privilege regarding their gender.”

She says part of the approach is that senior management tries to have many conversations with its staff and team members to find a better way of working.

“We discuss their issues, like transport, medical and other things,” she said. “We sit with them and try to resolve it. Communication and a uniform policy are key.”

So how and why are they different? She pauses and reflects: “Here we are creating a causal and fun environment; people talk and joke with each other. We know it’s a newsroom, so here every one is professional, but we set the boundaries. You can make a joke but not at the expense of gender, religion, or any other things. You have political differences or arguments, but the focus is that we should be respecting each other too.”

She says Dawn.com is proactive in creating a culture through internal training, Q&A sessions with staff, and an open-door policy so that anybody facing an issue feels they can come to a meeting and be given equal space. “We are very happy that Dawn.com is a place of comfort to its workers,” she says.

The approach is also implemented in its recruitment strategy, and the result is that it is creating an atmosphere that has become empowering for both women and men journalists.

While it is ticking many boxes in terms of progressing a gender equality agenda, there are still a few sticky issues for the company. The question of daycare is one, and many of the outlet’s female journalists agreed that it was important but was, so far, not hitting the mark for the outlet.

According to Pakistani law, daycare should be part of the media house. However, Dawn.com has a mostly young graduate staff, and its newsroom still has a fairly open policy about taking care of children, according to Zahrah Mazhar. Some working mothers take care of their newborns and infants along with their work or are facilitated with work-from-home options.

Zahrah agreed that daycare is a gender issue. Though it is clear in a world where both men and women work and have children that it is a growing labour rights issue and is one that both IFJ and WMFP are putting great efforts into educating on the importance of striving for work/life balance and services that support both men and women – including their care of children.

“In today’s world, daycare is equally important for men and women,” says Mazhar. “In the Pakistani context, women have the role of caregiver, so a woman is more responsible. However, regardless of gender, daycare is important for both mother and father.”

WMFP Sindh coordinator Sheema Siddiqui believes that daycare must be part of every Pakistani media house and non-negotiable if gender equity is to be meaningfully achieved.

“It’s not a treat; it’s a basic component of professional working mothers,” she says. “Sharing the example from Geo, I know a lady who lost her daughter at 18 months of age. She tried pushing the company’s human resources team for daycare support, but it was not forthcoming. She was a young working mother, and she left her infant to her mother and dropped her older daughter at the school before coming to the office at 8 o’clock. She had a lot of burden, stress and workplace pressure.”

After the unexpected death of her child, the woman took a break from work. When she returned, she shared that the experience of juggling work with parenting after what had happened to her child had made her feel like a failure and that she was not a good mother.

Societal pressures that come with trying to balance work and home, are far from isolated for many women journalists.

According to Siddique, in the Pakistani scenario, taking care of a child is generally the prime responsibility of the mother, regardless of whether she is a housewife or a professional woman. Meanwhile, the male in the relationship is largely free from the burden and can get on with their professional work without challenge.

“So, I am emphasising this should be a key issue, and we should issue letters and messages to heads of media houses and managing editors. Surely it’s not a gender demand; it favours any employee regardless of gender, bringing up children is a common responsibility.”

The global gender gap currently stands at around 25%, but some countries and regions face a gap of more than 50%. IFJ’s 2023 mapping of Pakistan’s media found a significant gender gap issue, with around 90% of media houses also experiencing a problem with a lack of women in decision-making positions.

Around the world, there is an increasing awareness of the importance of embedding gender clauses into workplace agreements and CBAs—which actually helps make a meaningful difference to working women’s (and men’s) lives. But that awareness is still lacking in the ranks of Dawn.com staff, who predominantly indicated they had no concept of CBAs in delivering outcomes on labour rights such as daycare or gender-inclusive clauses.

This widespread lack of understanding about CBAs is reflected by data that 80% of the digital media workforce in Pakistan who are young and have lacked any training or mentorship on the importance of unions and labour rights bargaining.

Sheema Siddique sees that as a challenge that can be overcome, it is an opportunity, in fact.

“We could do more advocacy, like a workforce meeting, engage more with female journalists,” she said.  “We are creating a space to make people active, and a key role to better understanding, in my view, is in-person and closed meetings. That is more effective and impactful.”

She gives the example of the WMFP online spaces on Twitter (now X), which establish dialogues among women journalists and create connectivity and communication across Pakistan on the issues that matter for working journalists.

That’s not to say there aren’t women journalists in Pakistan with credibility and a wealth of knowledge on the importance of collective bargaining and an empowered and unionised workforce. She cites the example of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists’ female vice president, Sheher Bano, who continues to tirelessly campaign and educate on labour rights and building union membership among women.

“She is a lead trainer of labour law in Pakistan, and we can share with and learn from her personal experiences, how to stand up for our due rights,” says Sheema. “The issue is that most digital journalists don’t know about CBAs, their role and importance as in-house safeguard bodies. We must engage to change that.”

This blog is part of a campaign marking World Day for Decent Work on October 7 by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Women’s Media Form Pakistan (WMFP), addressing issues for women in media in Pakistan.