Women journalists are
strong, women journalists are brave, women journalists can do anything that
male journalists can but Dishya Sharma finds out the take on women journalists
from the voices who belong to the print industry themselves.
Rachel Lopez, a
journalist, in an article in Hindustan Times, shared her experience that dates
back to five years ago, when she entered the field of reporting and writing. In
the article, she states that the HR of the organization she joined had greeted her
with a statement that put her into a state of thought. The recruiter said that
they were proud to say that the male-to-female ratio in the organisation was
close to 50:50. It was little later that she realised the meaning of that
statement. At the time she joined the magazine five years ago, the magazine was
the first one to touch the fifty to fifty mark ratios in a print organisation. This
was the state of the industry where women journalists were ready to be a part
of the print industry but were still not accepted. Lopez also shared that when
she joined, the magazine office still had only one toilet for women as opposed
to three for men.
She also shares
that during the past five years not many people have realised that there is
more to women journalists than what meets the eye. Women journalists are not
only covering lifestyle, arts and entertainment but also test-driving SUVs,
reporting on Swine Flu wards, walking into abattoirs, interviewing the kin of
murder accused, making rounds of police stations, counting wickets and going on
assignment to areas without sanitation, electricity or mobile-phone
connectivity.
Rachel Lopez
ends her article by saying that the industry is changing but has not broadened
yet. There are more women journalists seen in the industry. Many families have
started opening up to the career now and men have started accepting the fact
that there are women journalists on the same working floor as them. But a journalist from The Indian Express says that she has witnessed a different face
of the industry. “Contrary to what most people think, it is not all about
glamour and non ethical nosing about in other people's business. It's about
ideas, and how you express them with your words. Being a woman, there is more
expectations than a man. But being in the industry for over two years now, I
feel that the print media in industry has been kind to me. There is a lot of
competition, but there is space for you to make your mark if you put in that
mug effort. Being a woman really makes no difference in this profession.
However, being friendly and knowing where to draw the line with familiarity
does. I haven't faced any disadvantages of being a woman in this profession but
it does have its perks. Infact, people have a soft corner for you if you're a
woman and they would help you out with stuff, drop you hone at night if you go
for an assignment, make sure you're comfortable and always be protective” she
says as she shares her experiences of being in the industry.
The hierarchy of
the print industry has started changing. Gone are the days when the boss used
to be a man. Today women are taking the drivers’ seat with many resident
editors and editors are women. Women like Ritu Sarin of Indian Express, Sonal
Kalra from Hindustan Times, Dina Vakil of Times of India have become the face
of various organizations over the period of time. But there are still many
organisations where women are not forming many colours of a painting. “In print
journalism, women have obviously been accepted. In my office itself, there are
more women in the desk than men. Yes the ratio is good but women as bosses are
seen less as compared to the fields of fashion or entertainment fields rather
than in the fields of investigation, crime or even politics” shared Aravind
Suchindran, journalist with the Times of India.
But Ammu Joseph,
an Indian journalist, shared in an interview with Ranjit Devraj on the topic
‘More Women journalists doesn’t mean more gender awareness’ that the experiences
of women journalists vary according to number of factors that include their
location, the languages they work in, the size of the media house and the type
of management policies and even the generation the women belong to and their
own socio-economic, cultural and familial background matter. There may be more
in common between the situations of some Indian women journalists based in
Delhi or Mumbai and their counterparts in London or New York than some of their
female colleagues in say, Bhopal, Imphal, Kota, Madurai, Nasik or Ranchi.
It will be wrong
to make a general statement that women can’t handle beats like crime,
development and investigative stories. There are so many women reporters in
print and broadcast media, who are doing very well. However, the ratio as
compared to men is very low. Yes the industry is changing, but the changed
picture is seen in the industry of major cities. There is still room for change
in smaller organizations.
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