Status of Women Journalists at workplace

Women journalists are climbing the ladder faster than before. She is handling her career, struggling hard to make a mark, climb the ladder and stay on the top strong. But are all women getting the same chances and are they really given the opportunity to make a mark in the field? Dishya Sharma takes out the old stock of books to understand what is hiding under the glass ceiling. 

Women journalists have earned a face that stands to be part of the society yet she has her own presence in the crowd, a phrase that is catching up in many young women of today, a challenge for the society to accept and a twist to the organization. They have been seen in various faces; a reporter covering the war front directly from the battle field, a diva whose thoughts have changed the face of the fashion world, a role of social activist who has taken in charge of changing the society with her pen and the head of an organization and becoming the face it. But does anyone really know the status of the women journalists in the industry? Has anyone looked into the problems that they face while making it large in the industry?

Though the most celebrated women journalist are the ones who have written the most remarkable stories that have changed the face of writing, there are many factors that have proven to be a hurdle to many journalists. Today, women are given the chance to venture into various others fields like crime, politics, finance and law apart from fashion, art and entertainment. But it took a lot from women to earn their hold in the industry today.

How it all started?

Hemant Kumari Devi, considered to be the first woman journalist in Hindi, paved the way for women journalists in India in regional languages but yet the industry was not ready to accept them in the English literature. As a result, only few women took the risk of joining the male dominant industry in the late 1800’s. It was in the first half of the 1900’s when Mumbai, then Bombay, welcomed women in the English language. This is when the first Indian female news journalist, Homai Vyaravalla, was born in the industry. After which, there was no stop to women journalists in the industry. With names like Usha Rai, Prabha Dutt, Razia Ismail, Jyotsna Kapoor, Neena Vyas, Modhumita Mojumdar, Zeenat Imam, Rami Chhbra, Rashmi Saxena, Madhu Jain, Coomi Kapoor and Tavleen Singh reporting from Delhi, Olga Tellis, Zarien Merchant, Fatima Zakaria, Elizabeth Rao, Bachi Karkaria, Dina Vakil and Carol Andrade who reported from Mumbai, Anjali Sirkar from Chennai, Gita Aravamudan and Rima Kashyap from Bangalore, and Kalyani Shankar from Hyderabad changed the face of women journalist in India.

But where many journalists started making a mark, there were cases coming out which brought light on issues that did not allow women to develop. The picture has changed only a little in the past century. Women were a part of the male dominant industry and are still a part of it. A study done by National Commission of Women in the year 2004 portrayed the picture of the print industry in India and the condition of women journalists. The report stated that the women journalists are still finding a way to be an equal part of the print industry.

The real picture

There are still cases where many women do not get equal chances as men in the industry. Many women have to compromise to match their male components and balance their life in search of a promotion and upgrade in their career. Many women find the option of having children after their career is settled leading to many complications in personal life. Many women also have to bear with husbands who cannot accept that their wives earn more or are better established than them says by A. Akhileshwari in the National Commission Women research.

Not only are the women in print journalism suffering, it is the women in the print journalism that are being affected more. According to the research done by Ranu Tomar, Professor of Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi, has concluded that the regional language women journalist suffer more than the women in English journalism. The research says that while many women journalists in the English literature earn recognition on a national level, there are many women regional journalists who work for many years do not attain the same recognition. There are so many women journalists who have been a part of the regional print industry but have not earned enough recognition.

Women all across the country, irrespective of language or region have mentioned that they are underpaid, overused and do not enjoy the same facilities as their male co-workers. Both the research and the research done by Prof. Mrinal Chatterjee, Head, Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) on the print medium in Orissa says that women are not given basic facilities like maternity leaves, transportation, childcare facilities and security post night duties. Though many women have fought for their rights for the necessities, there are more than 50 percent of women who are not aware of the facilities that are provided in their organization. According to the survey done by Ranu Tomar, it is said that women do not get professional facilities as men. Many even complained that such working environment is not healthy as going without promotions discourage them.

The workplace picture

A recent research by the Press Trust of India has brought the issue of sexual harassment in workplace in light. The research done in 2004 mentioned only few women accepting to the fact of workplace harassment. Several studies done in the past claimed that many women journalists refused to comment on the workplace harassment but neither did they accept nor deny. Even in the 2004 report by the National Commission of Women, the researcher finds that there are many women who aren’t aware of being sexually harassed at work place but whereas there are a quarter amount of the sample who has accepted that they are sexually harassed. These women accept that due to working in the same office as the men who are harassing them, they find it very hard to work in such environment thus affecting their growth in the industry. After the recent Photojournalist rape case that has caught the attention of many, many women journalists are coming out to share their part of the story of how they were being sexually harassed by their male colleagues and the way it affects them.

The status of women in Indian print industry has seen many facets, from women being equal to nothing in an organization to the face of an organisation i.e., becoming the editor in chief or resident editor, there are few factors that have not changed in the industry yet. Women still are the ones compromising with their family lives to maintain a successful career and men still seem to dominate the industry in spite of so many years of women struggle.