WAN-IFRA Women in News held its Jordan WIN Alums Gathering in partnership with The Media Lab bringing together generations of women journalists to share career experiences challenges and lessons.
By Imran Malik | Media Industry & Community Desk | MediaBites.com.pk | SharjahNews.ae
When women journalists from different generations sit in the same room, the conversation rarely stays professional for long. It becomes personal. It becomes honest. It becomes the kind of exchange that textbooks and training programmes cannot replicate.
That was precisely the spirit at the heart of this year’s Jordan WIN Alums Gathering, organised by WAN-IFRA Women in News in partnership with The Media Lab under the theme “Between Two Generations: Stories, Experiences and Lessons from the Journalism Journey.”
Mental Health First — Setting the Right Tone
The gathering opened with a session that reflected an understanding of what women in newsrooms actually face every day.
Lara M. Ayoub, Founder of The Media Lab, led the opening discussion on mental health and wellbeing in newsrooms, exploring practical ways for journalists to prioritise their personal wellbeing while navigating the intense and often unforgiving pressures of working in media.
The choice to begin with mental health rather than career strategy was deliberate and significant. It signalled that this gathering was not simply about professional advancement. It was about the whole person behind the journalist.
From Experience to Expertise — Three Generations, One Conversation
The gathering’s centrepiece was a panel titled “From Experience to Expertise: Stories of Women Journalists Across Generations”, featuring three accomplished WIN Alums whose careers represent the breadth and depth of Arab women’s contribution to journalism.
Etaf Roudan, Director of Community Media Network, brought her experience of community-focused journalism and the particular challenges of building media organisations that serve underrepresented voices.
Dr. Rula Abul Rous, News Editor in Chief at Al Mamlaka TV, represented the institutional leadership dimension of women’s journalism careers, the navigation of editorial authority in organisations where women in top roles remain underrepresented.
Farihan Alhassan, Managing Editor of Hayatna at Al Ghad newspaper, brought the perspective of print media leadership at a moment when the industry’s transformation has tested the resilience of every journalist who has chosen to stay.
Facilitated by Njood Al Majaly, the three panellists shared with candour the successes, difficult decisions, failures, and hard-won lessons that have shaped their individual journeys, creating an open and generous exchange between experienced journalists and the next generation watching, listening, and preparing to walk similar paths.
Why Gatherings Like This Matter
The Jordan WIN Alums Gathering represents something that formal journalism training cannot provide. It is the transfer of lived experience from one generation of women journalists to the next, in a space where honesty is welcome and the pressures of professional performance are temporarily set aside.
For younger women journalists in Jordan and across the Arab world, hearing from women who have navigated the industry’s specific challenges for decades — the gender dynamics, the editorial pressures, the work-life tensions, the moments of doubt and the moments of breakthrough — is among the most valuable professional development they can receive.
For the experienced journalists on the panel, the gathering offered something equally valuable. The reminder that their journeys, including the difficult parts, carry meaning and purpose beyond their own careers when shared with those who are still finding their way.
About WAN-IFRA Women in News
WAN-IFRA Women in News (WIN) is the gender leadership initiative of the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), the world’s largest international press organisation representing 3,000 news publishing companies and 18,000 publications across 120 countries. WIN works to increase women’s leadership and voices in news media across Africa, Asia, the Arab world, and beyond through training, mentorship, alumnae networks, and initiatives like the SIRI Gaza programme. Its mission is to build a more representative, more resilient, and more equitable global journalism industry.
— Imran Malik | Media Industry and Community Desk | MediaBites.com.pk | SharjahNews.ae
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