See Yemen through my eyes - Nadia Al-Sakkaf

[Music] [Applause] You have brought us images from the Yemen Times and take us through those and introduce us to another Yemen.

Well, um, I'm glad to be here, and I would like to share with you all some of the big pictures that are happening today in Yemen. This picture shows a revolution started by women, and it shows women and men leading a mixed protest. The other picture is the popularity of the real need for change. So many people are there, the intensity of the upspring. This picture shows that the revolution has allowed opportunities for training and for education. These women are learning about first aid and their rights according to the Constitution.

I love this picture! I just wanted to show that over 60% of the Yemeni population are 15 years and below, and they were excluded from decision-making, and now they are in the forefront of the news raising the flag. You will see this is genes and tights and, in English, expression— you know, the ability to share with the world what is going on in our own country. Expression also has brought talent. Yemenis are using cartoons and art paintings—comics—to tell the world and each other about what's going on.

Obviously, there's always the dark side of it, and this is just one of the less gruesome pictures of the revolution and the cost that we have to pay—the solidarity of millions of Yemenis across the country just demanding the one thing. And finally, lots of people are saying that Yemen's revolution is going to break the country. Is it going to be so many different countries? Is it going to be another Somalia? But we want to tell the world that no, under the one flag, we will still remain as Yemeni people.

Thank you for those images, Nadia, and they do in many ways tell a different story than the story of Yemen, the one that is often in the news. And yet you yourself defy all those characterizations. So let's talk about the personal story for a moment. Your father is murdered. The Yemen Times already has a strong reputation in Yemen as an independent English-language newspaper. How did you then make the decision and assume the responsibilities of running a newspaper, especially in such times of conflict?

Well, let me first warn you that I am not the traditional Yemeni girl. I guess you've already noticed this by now. In Yemen, most women are veiled, and they are sitting behind doors, not very much part of public life. But there's so much potential. I wish I could show you my Yemen. I wish you could see the Yemen through my eyes; then you will know that there is so much to it. I was privileged because I was born into a family. My father would always encourage the boys and the girls. He would say, we are equal, and he was such an extraordinary man. Even my mother—I owe it to my family.

A story—I studied in India, and in my third year, I started becoming confused because I was Yemeni, but I was also mixing up with a lot of my friends in college. I went back home and I said, "Daddy, I don't know who I am. I'm not a Yemen. I'm not an Indian." And he said, "You are the bridge," and that is something I will keep in my heart forever. So since then, I've been the bridge, and a lot of people have walked over me. But I don't think so. It just helps to tell that some people are change agents in society.

When I became Editor in Chief after my brother—actually, my father passed away in '99, then my brother until 2005, and everybody was betting that I would not be able to do it. “What's this young girl coming and showing off because it's her family business or something?” It was very hard at first. I didn't want to clash with people, but with all due respect to all the men, especially the older men, they did not want me. It was very hard, you know, to impose my authority. But a woman's got to do what a woman's got to do.

[Laughter] [Music] In the first year, I had to fire half of the men, brought in more women, and brought in younger men. We have a more gender-balanced newsroom today. The other thing is that it's about professionalism. It's about proving who you are and what you can do. And I don't know if I'm going to be boasting now, but in 2006 alone, we won three international awards; one of them is the IPI Free Media Pioneer Award. So that was the answer to all the Yemen people.

I want to score a point here because my husband is in the room over there. If you could please stand up? He has been very supportive of me, and we should point out that he works with you as well at the paper. But in assuming this responsibility and going about it as you have, you have become a bridge between an old or traditional society and the one that you are now creating at the paper. And so, along with changing who works there, you must have come up against another positioning that we always run into, particularly with women, and it has to do with outside image, dress, and the veiled woman.

So how have you dealt with this on a personal level as well as the women who work for you? As you know, the image of Yemeni women is a lot of black and covered veiled women, and this is true. A lot of it is because women are not able or not free to show their face to themselves. It's a lot of traditional imposing coming by authority figures such as the men, the grandparents, and so on. It's economic empowerment and the ability for a woman to say, “I am as much contributing to this family, or more than you are.” The more empowered the women become, the more they are able to take to remove the veil, for example, or to drive their own car or to have a job or to be able to travel.

So the other face of Yemen is actually one that lies behind the veil, and it's economic empowerment mostly that allows the women to just uncover it. I have done this throughout my work. I've tried to encourage young girls—we started with like, you can take it off in the office; and then after that, you can take it off on assignments. Because I didn't believe a journalist can be a journalist with, you know—how can you talk to people if you have your face covered and so on? It's just a movement, and I am a role model in Yemen, and a lot of people look up to me; a lot of young girls look up to me. I need to prove to them that yes, you can still be married, you can still be a mother, and you can still be respected in society. But at the same time, that doesn't mean that you just be one of the crowd; you can be yourself and have your face.

But by putting yourself personally out there, both projecting a different image of Yemeni women but also what you have made possible for the women who work at the paper, has this put you in personal danger?

Well, the Yemen Times, across 20 years, has been through so much. We've suffered prosecution. The paper was closed down more than three times. It's an independent newspaper, but tell that to the people in charge. They think that if there's anything against them, then we are being an opposition newspaper. Very, very difficult times. Some of my reporters were arrested. We had some court cases. My father was assassinated.

Today, we are in a much better situation. We've created the credibility, and in times of revolution or change like today, it is very important for independent media to have a voice. It's very important for you to go to ytimes.com, and it is very important to listen to our voice.

This is probably something I want to share with you on Western media, probably, and how there's a lot of stereotypes, thinking of Yemen in one single frame. This is what Yemen is all about, and that's not fair—it's not fair for me, it's not fair for my country. A lot of reporters come to Yemen, and they want to write a story on Al-Qaeda or terrorism. I just wanted to share with you—like there's one reporter that came; he wanted to do a document on what his editors wanted, and he ended up writing a story that even surprised me: hip hop—that there are young Yemeni men who express themselves through dancing and that thing, rap, break dancing.

Yeah, break dancing. I'm not so old; I'm just not in touch. [Music] Yes, you are actually! That's a documentary that's available online. The video is online. It is shakethdust.org. Yeah, Shake the Dust! Shake the Dust! shakethdust.org. And it definitely does give a different image of Yemen.

You spoke about the responsibility of the press, and certainly when we look at the ways in which we have, you know, separated ourselves from others, we've created fear and danger, often from lack of knowledge, lack of real understanding. How do you see the way that the Western press in particular is covering this and all other stories out of the region, but in particular in your country?

Well, there's a thing that says you fear what you don't know, and you hate what you fear. So it's about the lack of research, basically. It's almost do your homework, you know? Some involvement, and you cannot do parachute reporting, you know? Just jump into a country for two days and think that you've done your homework and stories.

So I wish that the world would know my Yemen, my country, my people. I am an example, and there are others like me. We may not be that many, but if we are promoted as, you know, a good positive example, there will be others, men and women, who can eventually bridge the gap.

Again, coming to the bridge between Yemen and the world and telling us first about recognition, and then about communication and compassion. I think Yemen is going to be in a very bad situation in the next two or three years; it's natural. But after the two years, which is the price we are willing to pay, we will stand up again on our feet, but in the new Yemen with the younger and more empowered people.

Democratic Nadia, I think you've just given us a very different view of Yemen, and certainly you yourself and what you do have given us a view of the future that will embrace and be grateful for. Thank you, and the very best of luck to you. YemenTimes.com on Twitter also, so you are plugged in. [Applause] Yeah! [Applause] Yeah!