The benefits of being a female reporter in Syria

(CBS News) Can women report more effectively than men in Syria?

In a discussion about Syria Wednesday, CBS News' Clarissa Ward and Elizabether Palmer -- both of whom have reported extensively from the war-torn country - made that case.

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"Women are really dominating in terms of the Syria coverage that we have seen, and I think one tiny part of that may be, people always assume, 'Oh, you're a woman in the Middle East. It must be so tough. How do you do it?' And actually it's a tremendous privilege and honor in many ways to work as a woman in the Middle East because you're afforded access to other women, which our male counterparts are not. And let me tell you something -- you go to the village and sit down with the women -- they know everything that is happening in that village," said Ward, who recently received two Emmy Awards for her work in Syria.

Palmer, who was the only American network correspondent in the country at the height of last month's crisis -- and who was also nominated for an Emmy for her work -- said one of the advantages of being a woman reporting in Syria is that women can be more invisible. "I think I can always get through a military checkpoint more easily than a man. I can melt into a crowd. I can put on a head scarf and virtually disappear. And there's a huge disadvantage to that in many, many situations."

At the government level, Condoleezza Rice, former secretary of state, who also joined the conversation as a CBS News contributor, said she often met with wives or the mothers of leaders and said she was surprised how much clout they have in their own societies. She said, "You learn things through these networks that you would otherwise not learn."

Watch the full discussion from "CTM" in the video above.