There is much to ponder in this year’s selection of thought leaders from women working in media. There’s a wonderful mix of positive and inspiring pieces, and others that challenge notions of women always being supportive and helping each other.
There are stories on leadership, on growth, on burnout. There are also many tales of how damn hard it is for women in the media to reach the top.
“The reality is that the women we see holding leadership positions in our industry today have made it there against the odds,” writes advertising doyenne Fran Luckin. She mentions the relaunch of Open Chair, “a community for women in advertising that exists to provide a safe and empowering space where young women in the industry can access mentorship and guidance and connect with a like-minded sisterhood.”
The glass ceiling might have cracks, she says, but it is still in place.
Vital research
While reading around the issues women in the media face, I discovered Australia’s Women in Media Industry Insight Report 2024. Women in Media is a “nationwide, not-for-profit initiative for women working in all forms of media, advertising, marketing and communications”. It also conducts vital research into the industry from a female perspective, the foundation of the new report.
“Career dissatisfaction reaches three-year high for women in media” was the pull quote highlighted in huge letters. It reports that 35% of women are considering quitting, particularly senior and mid-career professionals, and 56% hold a negative view of the industry’s commitment to gender equality.
We can’t even compare those statistics to our situation in South Africa, simply because there is no cohesive research into women in the media. There are some academics writing papers, there’s the State of the Newsroom Report. But there isn’t a national body committed to the cause, with branches in every province.
There are pockets here and there, like Open Chair or Sister Working in Film and Television (SWIFT). And the excellent resource, Quote this Woman+, which is dedicated to growing the number of female expert sources used in media.
No shrinking violets
For 10 years, Wag the Dog Publishers (former owner of The Media and The Media Online) hosted Women in The Media Awards. They celebrated the achievements, the legacies of South Africa’s women in media. The last event was in 2014. At the time, publisher Sandra Gordon said she would continue hosting the awards as long as the glass ceiling was in place. Sadly, that wasn’t to be.
What is clear from the contributions to our annual Women in The Media edition is that we are not shrinking violets, that we are smart, opinionated, ambitious, thoughtful, inspirational, pithy, hard-working, honest, ethical and bloody good at what we do.
So, thank you to each and every one of our contributors for your openness and willingness to share your stories. You are an inspiration.
The Media.
Got to love it.
CLICK ON THE COVER TO READ WOMEN IN THE MEDIA – 2024 EDITION
