COLUMN: Where are the women in the media?
As I look around the newsroom at Central Michigan Life, I’m encouraged and heartened by all the other female reporters, photographers, editors and designers I see working around me.
I’m incredibly proud of the fact that our newsroom is led by a fearless female editor-in-chief and count myself lucky to work in such a gender-diverse environment.
My work does, however, prompt me to wonder about other women’s experiences. If I were to look around in any of the major newsrooms in the country, would I see as many women as I work with at CM Life?
Statistics tell me I would not.
So where are the women? Current newsroom culture dictates I’m more likely to turn the corner and see a woman handing out coffee at a budgeting meeting than I am to see her running the meeting herself.
Yes, we women are present in news organizations on a basic level across the country. There are plenty of female reporters, and gone are the days when we were pigeonholed into the fashion and homemaking sections of the paper.
The fact remains that the big decisions about what readers will consume are still being made primarily by men.
Now, this wouldn’t be a problem if the entire world was also made up primarily of men and the majority of newsworthy stories were centered around them. Last I checked ladies, we still have them beat in the population department.
That’s why I want to see more women in executive and editorial positions. If the news involves an almost equal amount of men and women, shouldn’t those who interpret and present that news be representative of those populations?
Here, I ought to clarify that yes, I do consider myself a feminist, and no, I do not hate men.
I’m not exactly sure how some people have held on to the idea that all feminists are bra-burning man-haters. Maybe no one has told them how expensive bras actually are these days.
The point is, I think a little feminism would be great for the newsroom environment. If fact, a few feminists might be exactly what journalism needs.
Male or female, all feminism really entails at its roots is supporting the rights and aspirations of women, providing better mentoring programs for young women aspiring to become journalists, or reporting a case of discrimination you notice in the newsroom. The possibilities of women empowerment in the field of journalism are endless and basic.
To some, the issue of female involvement and feminism in the workplace is a complicated one.
For me, the concept is relatively simple: I am a woman, and I’ll be damned if the newsroom doesn’t hear me roar.
