Saudi Arabia’s First Female News Anchor Goes Live
A happy Saudi National Day, indeed
Just days before Saudi National Day, the country marked yet another 2018 milestone for women: journalist Weam Al Dakheel made history as the first woman to become a lead news anchor. Debuting on national channel Saudia TV’s 9:30 PM nightly news just last Thursday, September 20, she went live alongside her co-anchor Omar Al Nashwan.
While women have presented on news channels in the past – the first-ever woman to present was Jumanah AlShami in 2016 – they have primarily covered subjects like women’s interest stories, cooking, and the weather. This was the first time the country has seen a woman hold a main news anchor seat and naturally, is being celebrated all over social media.
Saudi woman @WeamAlDakheel becomes first to anchor evening news on state TV https://t.co/Jyk7lOnTfY #SaudiArabia
— Reem Abdellatif – ريم عبداللطيف (@Reem_Abdellatif) September 22, 2018
Meet the first female newscaster of Saudi Arabia, Weam Al-Dakheel
Read More: https://t.co/QpNG6UbIk3#DunyaFeatured #WomenRiseUp #womenempowerment @WeamAlDakheel @junaidalimalik1 #WeamAlDakheel#NEWS #arab pic.twitter.com/bSzNpxS73m— Dunya News (@DunyaNews) September 22, 2018
Despite this historic first, Al Dakheel isn’t an industry newcomer. She’s also worked at Al-Arab News Channel in Bahrain and CNBC Arabia in previous years, and also holds a journalism degree from the Lebanese American University.
مبروك وئام الدخيل اول سعودية تقدم نشرة أخبار رئيسية على القناة الوطنية @WeamAlDakheel #السعودية 1st Saudi woman to anchor the news on #KSA national TV pic.twitter.com/5dWn4gBwMF
— Jessy El Murr جيسي المر (@JessyTrendSKY) September 21, 2018
Watch the full clip below of Al Dakheel’s lead news premiere!