Study highlights women's struggle in the newsroom
By Maria Montoya
Features Reporter
Times-Picayune

LAS VEGAS -- Women may make up nearly half of the newspaper industry's work force, but they are losing ground when it comes to attaining positions of power, according to a new study presented Thursday at the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors' convention.

The study by the Media Management Center at Northwestern University, "Women in Newspapers: Still Fighting an Uphill Battle," showed that the percentage of women executives in top positions at American newspapers declined from 29 percent in 2000 to 26 percent in 2002.

Those numbers indicate that women are having trouble breaking through the glass ceiling, according to Vivian Vahlberg, director of Journalism Programs for the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation, which funded the study.

"There are plenty of women in the pipeline, but the pipeline is clogged," she said, noting that women now account for 44 percent of the work force.

The study included 137 newspapers with circulations over 85,000. The key points addressed in the study included:

• At the corporate level, men hold 82 percent of the top positions, while women hold onto only 18 percent.
• At individual newspapers, 86 percent of the publishers are men and 14 percent women.
• In the top editing position, 80 percent are male and 20 percent are female.

The study also noted that women who do hold executive positions are concentrated at a few corporations -- A.H. Belo, Dow Jones & Company, Knight Ridder and Gannett.

In the study, 15 male newspaper executives interviewed said that several factors contribute to the lack of female executives, but the main problem is that "women are still overcoming history." Eventually, the executives said, more women will move into key positions.

Women, on the other hand, don't see history as their barrier. The female executives interviewed said the biggest impediments they face include exclusion from informal networks like golf, male stereotyping and misconceptions, a lack work experience and inhospitable corporate culture.

The study also included interviews with five prominent women who left the profession. They concluded that there was a lack of passion, creativity and opportunities available in the industry.

"It says something about the industry when you hear women say they are leaving newspapers because they need an environment where they can learn," Vahlberg said.

There are ways women can improve their chances of attaining better positions, Vahlberg said. The executives interviewed for the study recommend that women get cross training, take risks and be themselves.

Vahlberg also offered her own advice to women: "Make your aspirations known and encourage others to do the same."

The future of women in newspapers shouldn't be left up to women alone, Vahlberg said. She asked editors at the convention to use the study to generate conversation, and perhaps solutions, to the problems women faces in the industry.

"Take these reports back to your newsrooms and read them, share them and more importantly talk about them," she said.

To download a copy of the Media Management Center's study go to http://www.rrmtf.org.

Maria Montoya is a feature writer for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans and attended the AASFE convention as a diversity fellow.