On this International Women’s Day we’ve spoken to female digital journalists about their experience working in the newsroom.
Beth Ashton is head of audience at The Independent, having previously worked in similar roles at The Telegraph. Elise Johnson is the new Editorial Audience Growth Consultant at Stuff, New Zealand. Prior to this, she was Head of Audience for The New Statesman. They’ve shared with us their thoughts on what it is like to be a woman in the media world.
Q: What is it like to work in the newsroom?
Elise: I love working in audience strategy because it is where a lot of cutting-edge innovation is taking place. We are helping form the journalism of the future by building on best journalistic practices with the new tools. I think it creates a much more intimate relationship between the publisher and the reader, which is powerful and ultimately good for the craft.
Beth: Working in a newsroom is both exciting and exhausting. You never know what you’re going to be working on that day, which makes it a really interesting place to be.
Q: What are the main challenges that you weren’t prepared for?
Elise: I’ve found the toughest part of Audience strategy can be convincing some people in the newsroom that the data and the tools are not going to harm the editorial process but actually improve it.
Beth: When I left City, I felt prepared for the challenges presented by the work I was going to do. I was really lucky in my first newsroom at the Manchester Evening News because I was really given a voice and supported in finding my feet in the role. All newsrooms are different so I would always advocate for finding a role where your growth is encouraged.
Q: Are there any qualities in being a woman that particularly help you in your work?
Elise: Good qualities for any journalist regardless of gender are tenacity, energy, and reliability.
Beth: This is a really tough question. I don’t think the qualities that help me in my work particularly relate to me being a woman, if anything I think we’ve still got quite a way to go as an industry in levelling the playing field between genders. We still don’t have anything like as many females in top jobs as we should.
Q: What would be your advise to women working or about to start working in the field of journalism?
Elise: Make sure you are tough in your pay negotiations. The numbers on gender pay disparity are telling a story, so go in bolshy, you are helping the company solve its gender pay gap problem.
Beth: The best advice I ever had was to find something that no one wants to do – or no one can do – in a newsroom and learn everything you can about it. I think contacting people you admire for mentorship is a good idea. There are a lot of good people in journalism who are willing and want to help people who are just starting out.