Recalling the time when she started out in the 70’s,
Patricia Sethi observed there was scant recognition for the work women did in
the media, especially in India. Working abroad was a different ball game. Over
the years however, she has noticed a change, howsoever small. A vast media
exposure in India in terms of print, social and broadcast have attributed to
the change. But while there is a surge of more women journalists today, the
fact remains that journalism is still a very difficult career for women,
especially as they climb higher in the ladder.
Priya Ramani attributes this to two aspects. “What happens
is that men do tend to dominate as we go higher. There are more men editors
than women these days. It is because of the way the media is structured. And
this is again because of the way politics is structured in India, which is men
dominated. Political Journalism is totally dominated by men and if women want
to enter this field then they are looked upon as auditee intruders. They
believe women should stick to soft issues. Hence women find it difficult to
penetrate this domain,” she avers.
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Having gone through
the drill of being sidelined as a woman, Sagarika Ghose advocates that one
adopt a designer craziness to survive in this male-dominated industry. She adds “Let your lunacy become your ally.
Be so dedicated to your task that it borders on lunacy. Use it as a means to
express yourself.”
Yet today many women are challenging the stereotypes. “Being
an editor is a tough job. You have to be aggressive. People put this down to
arrogance. The aggressive questioning women are not accepted, but a man is,”
explains Ramani. Often subjected to abuse and threats from anonymous social
media trolls, these editors have nevertheless taken them in their stride
refusing to give the trolls leverage by replying.
Often women themselves opt out of these high profile jobs
for various reasons, but Ramani insists that women continue to write on issues
like gender or women education, which are being considered serious issues
today. One heartening aspect is that sexual harassment, especially in the
media, is also being addressed seriously these days with the mandatory
appointment of special committees in the media.
