A photograph of a journalist carrying her son while conducting interviews on the streets of Egypt has gone viral, attracting praise from social media users who hailed the woman’s efforts.
However, a day later, ONTV journalist Lamyaa Hamdeen has defended her actions amidst fear she will lose her job.
“My son was very sick and I couldn’t just leave him on the streets,” said Lamyaa, according to Masrawy.
Lamyaa explained that she had been covering Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb’s meeting with political groups before being sent to interview people on the streets of Cairo. However, she was already late to pick up her one-year-old son, who had been ‘very sick’, and so she had to take him with her during the street interviews.
Her son, Lamyaa added, did not disrupt her work and did not annoy any of those being interviewed. In fact, her colleagues happily assisted her throughout the process.
However, upon returning home, while there had been plenty of praise from photographs that had gone viral, some had criticized Lamyaa, stating that she is not fit to do her job and that she should be tending to her motherly duties instead.
The negative reaction among some has sparked fears that she will be fired. The fears reached the original photographer, who called Lamyaa and publicly apologized on Facebook for endangering her career. According to Masrawy, Lamyaa is worried that ONTV’s administration would agree that she is not currently fit for the job and would suspend her, despite working in the industry for more than nine years.
Nevertheless, social media users have rallied behind Lamyaa. On Egyptian Streets’ Facebook page, she was called a “warrior”, “superhero”, and a strong inspirational woman that deserves praise.
Comment (1)
Your son is sick. So you take him to work with you — on the streets — interviewing strangers. Did this woman think for 5 seconds and call a friend, relative or neighbor to help her out. Most professional woman, hey most women who work have some kind of Plan B when their small children get sick. It’s not carting the sick child around with them. Also, does this child have a father?
Firing might be a bit severe, but a demerit, or getting written up is appropriate.