Lebanon’s media landscape has long mirrored its deeply entrenched sectarian divisions [Getty]
The resignation of a hijab-wearing Muslim reporter from Lebanon’s state-run television channel has reignited public outrage over what critics describe as outdated and discriminatory media practices that marginalise visibly religious women, particularly those who wear the Islamic headscarf.
Zeina Yassine, a journalist who joined Tele Liban (TL) three years ago, submitted her resignation last month in a letter addressed to Information Minister Paul Morcos.
She was the first hijab-wearing reporter to appear on the country’s only state-run broadcaster and contributed to coverage during the 2023 Israeli assault on Lebanon.
In her letter, which the journalist shared online this week, Yassine thanked TL for the professional experience but cited institutional bias as the main reason for her departure.
“Perhaps the hijab I wear is causing discomfort to some of my partners in the country,” she wrote, describing what she saw as a hypocritical media environment that praises successful veiled women abroad but marginalises them at home.
“The double standards push me to respect myself and my mental health, and I submit my resignation from this national institution,” she added, criticising TL for being, in her words, a space that only welcomes “those who do not wear the hijab”.
While Yassine did not cite specific incidents or name individuals in her letter, she later posted it publicly on 2 April, voicing frustration that the information minister had not responded or sought to understand the circumstances of her resignation.
She claimed Morcos “preferred to deal with the matter indifferently”.
The controversy has drawn renewed attention to TL’s longstanding on-screen appearance policy, which prohibits visible religious symbols – a rule critics say disproportionately impacts Muslim women and is out of step with Lebanon’s pluralistic society.
In response to public criticism and rumours that Yassine had been banned from appearing on screen, TL’s assistant director general and editor-in-chief, Nada Saliba, issued a statement denying “targeted discrimination”.
She said TL’s policy was rooted in a tradition of “religious neutrality”.
“Tele Liban, historically and by tradition, does not adopt any religious signs or symbols of any kind on screen, while fully respecting all religions,” Saliba claimed. “It broadcasts all religious occasions, regardless of their diversity.”
In response to this claim, social media users were quick to point out instances of Tele-Liban presenters appearing on screen wearing Christian crosses.
Saliba also claimed that Yassine was employed in the social media department, not the newsroom, and that her role as an on-screen reporter during wartime coverage was “temporary”.
She implied that Yassine’s resignation was an attempt to pressure the channel into changing its policy to allow her regular on-screen appearances – something Saliba said was not within her authority to grant.
The issue of revising the channel’s decades-old policy lies with a new board of directors currently being formed by the new information minister.
“Any change in these standards, which have been in place for decades, is within the exclusive powers of the Board of Directors, which the Minister of Information, Dr. Paul Morcos, is working to form,” Saliba added.
Yassine, in her public posts, refuted the suggestion that she had used her resignation as leverage. She reaffirmed that the hijab itself — not a job title or promotion — had been the reason she left.
“I am a contracted employee at Tele Liban. What prompted me to resign was not the administration’s refusal to transfer me … but rather … the hijab that I wear,” she said.
She also challenged the assumption that visible religious identity should disqualify someone from delivering the news.
“If a broadcaster wears a cross or a Quran around their neck … does the content of the news change?” she asked. “If the journalist’s religious identity is clear, does it change the facts being reported?”
She later added that she had expected contact from the minister’s office to resolve the issue, having been told “through intermediaries” that someone would reach out.
“No one contacted me,” she wrote. “Tele Liban is not for all Lebanese … it is, just like Lebanon, characterised by four seasons: sectarianism, racism, classism, and favouritism.”
Yassine’s case has resonated widely online, with many Lebanese journalists and activists expressing solidarity.
Critics say that regardless of intent, the policy sends a harmful message — that religious visibility, especially when it comes to Muslim women, is incompatible with professionalism or neutrality.
Lebanon’s media landscape has long mirrored its deeply entrenched sectarian divisions, but many of its institutional practices – including public sector hiring quotas and outdated dress codes – have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years for failing to evolve with society.
While some privately-owned Lebanese channels — notably Al-Manar and NBN, affiliated with Hezbollah and the Amal Movement respectively — regularly feature hijab-wearing presenters, most state institutions have been slower to reflect the full spectrum of Lebanese society.
Yassine’s resignation adds to a growing number of cases highlighting workplace discrimination against visibly religious women in Lebanon.
In 2022, a prominent shopping centre in Beirut faced backlash after it dismissed a hijab-wearing employee, citing a ban on “public display of religious symbols”.
