megimoo
12-12-2009, 09:12 AM
"They Look Like The Creatures from the Black Lagoon !"
GOOD morning, This is Sofa TV... Saudi Style.
A religious channel in the Arab state has just allowed women to present - but only if they wear a burkha with a niqab veil.
One host, Ola al-Barqi - Awtan TV's version of GMTV's Lorraine Kelly - insists the near-total covering does not stop her doing her job.
She said: "We don't introduce ourselves as beautiful women who put on layers of make-up.
"Our audience is focusing on what we present to them, our ideas and our discourse.
"We're always receiving calls from viewers in various countries encouraging us to keep doing what we do."
There are more than 60 such channels across the Middle East.
Some let women host shows without being covered up or dressed in black, while others ban them altogether.
At Awtan, not only are women covered from head to toe, but male technical assistants do not enter the studio while they are on air.
Its women also do outside broadcasts.
Ola said: "We report from the field in the niqab and it does not stop us from doing anything."
Ola, who also hosts a quiz for girls, doesn't mind not being recognised in the street - insisting: "We don't need fame.
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2767064/Full-burkha-for-Arabia-TV-women.html#ixzz0ZU2YQjGT
GOOD morning, This is Sofa TV... Saudi Style.
A religious channel in the Arab state has just allowed women to present - but only if they wear a burkha with a niqab veil.
One host, Ola al-Barqi - Awtan TV's version of GMTV's Lorraine Kelly - insists the near-total covering does not stop her doing her job.
She said: "We don't introduce ourselves as beautiful women who put on layers of make-up.
"Our audience is focusing on what we present to them, our ideas and our discourse.
"We're always receiving calls from viewers in various countries encouraging us to keep doing what we do."
There are more than 60 such channels across the Middle East.
Some let women host shows without being covered up or dressed in black, while others ban them altogether.
At Awtan, not only are women covered from head to toe, but male technical assistants do not enter the studio while they are on air.
Its women also do outside broadcasts.
Ola said: "We report from the field in the niqab and it does not stop us from doing anything."
Ola, who also hosts a quiz for girls, doesn't mind not being recognised in the street - insisting: "We don't need fame.
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2767064/Full-burkha-for-Arabia-TV-women.html#ixzz0ZU2YQjGT