The presence of women in Saudi press conferences

Many cultural and media studies suggest that female journalists often focus on ‘soft’ stories, such as social welfare and local issues, and that their questioning style tends to be more cautious and polite. However, the performance of women in press conferences, particularly within Arab countries, has received limited attention in research. This paper aims to explore gender performance in live interactions in Saudi Arabia, rather than relying on pre-recorded interviews or print media, which may not fully capture the reality of live journalistic practices. The paper explores female participation in press conferences from two perspectives: (i) the topics discussed and (ii) the manner in which women pose their questions. It relies on a well-established coding system developed within the conversation analysis approach, focusing on four aspects: “initiative”, “directness”, “assertiveness”, and “hostility”. The results indicate that questions related to foreign affairs are slightly more common among female participants than male participants (8.3% vs. 5.6%), while questions related to gender issues are almost entirely absent, which contradicts traditional conceptions. Conversely, men scored higher on all four aspects except for “directness”, and the overall findings align with the traditional association of women with politeness. The overall results show that the recent empowerment of Saudi women has led to an increase in their participation, rising from complete absence to nearly 14% of the questions asked. This shift may also encourage journalists to broaden their focus from women’s issues to other pressing topics of greater public interest. However, while female participation in the Saudi workforce has risen from 17% to 36%, their involvement in press conferences remains underrepresented. This suggests that certain areas of the workplace may require more time to advance, potentially through further training and education.