A couple of times each week I am greeted with the following in print, on the phone and in person: “Dear Sir,” “Dear Sirs,” “Gentleman Editor,” and my personal favorite, “Thanks, little lady, now if I can speak with the man in charge, you know, the Editor.”
I find it puzzling that about 75 percent of the time, it is women who make the assumption that a man must be the one in charge.
Does it make me angry?
No, it”s just plain silly to think women can”t be editors.
After all it was a woman who facilitated bringing the news here in the first place.
In the 1600s Elizabeth Glover crossed the Atlantic Ocean with the first printing press to be operated in the British colonies.
A widow, Glover founded on her own the first printing business in the United States settling in Cambridge, Mass. in 1638, where she opened The Cambridge Press.
From 1638 until 1820, more than 25 American women owned and/or operated printers.
I will spend Saturday at Lower Lake High School participating in a workshop that focuses on non-traditional careers for women.
Journalism is actually traditionally a career rooted deeply with women in the United States and abroad.
Many people are not aware of the role of women in the field, because early in the 19th century women were told to use a byline that would create the illusion the writer was a man, either by using first initials or with a pen name. Most wrote from home in order for the men to perpetuate the fallacy of a male-dominated field.
According to the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE), in 2004, women made up 37.23 percent of daily newspapers employees: 20, 177, out of a total workforce of 54,164. ASNE estimates 4,471 women are in supervisory or upper-management positions.
Apparently a few boys signed up for my workshop, which I think is just fine.
I enjoy fairness and equality quite a bit.
I intend to share with Lake County students my experience, skills and background in my beloved field of journalism.
As a journalist and an editor, I record history and have the opportunity to capture moments in time with all five senses. I research extensively and therefore, I am afforded the ongoing opportunity to live as a student of life and the world.
I am blessed to gather highlights from lifetimes of information from people as I write about them, which allows me to see the world as a kaleidoscope through the eyes of people from all walks of life; all religious, political, economic, social and cultural backgrounds.
Sometimes I get to meet interesting people I would probably never have the chance to meet otherwise such as heroes, rock stars, experts in their fields, athletes, politicians and history-makers.
Other times I am at a gruesome scene of a vehicle crash, a shooting or a fire where people have died.
The good, the bad and the ugly are all necessary for me to experience in my professional and personal life.
I attend meetings, check emails, return telephone calls, read a lot, write a lot, research often, verify, itemize, budget, assign, create, interview, design, intervene, assess, check, double-check, trouble-shoot, adjust, fill-in, get out in the community, listen, speak, develop contacts, gain trust, keep current, think local and global, give tours, explain, ascertain and sometimes I complain, but I love my career.
To be a great journalist it doesn”t matter if you”re male or female.
A journalist should be inquisitive, skeptical, thick-skinned, sensitive, empathetic, sympathetic, determined, humble, trustworthy, ethical, moral, accurate, aware of agendas, critically-thinking, detail-oriented, confident, not cocky, motivated, enthusiastic, reliable, responsible, fair, competitive, fast, thorough and kind.
Some of the students attending the workshop may decide to pursue a career in journalism and others may not.
As far as I”m concerned:
“I”d rather smell the printers” ink and hear the presses go around than go to any grand opera in the world.” ? Winifred Black Bonfils
Mandy Feder is the Managing Editor at Lake County Publishing. She can be reached at mandyfeder@yahoo.com or 263-5636 ext. 32. Follow on Twitter @mandyfeder1.
