Where We Stand: AWJ Surveys Chicago's Newsroom Staff
Where We Stand is a project started by AWJ-Chicago members in 2007 with our first survey of our newroom colleagues. Starting at the end of 2007, and continuing through the beginning of 2008, we surveyed newsworkers at various newsrooms in the Chicago region. We released our first report in October 2008--
Where Women Stand: A Survey of Newsroom Staff in the Chicago Region.Our second survey and report are being developed. Contact project chair
Cheryl Corley for current status.
More about our first report: For more than two decades, women have increasingly been the majority in college journalism and mass communication classes. An increasing number of females also have become newsroom executives. Those are great strides. Even so, national reports—such as the annual survey conducted by the American Society of Newspaper Editors—put the number of female workers at newspapers at less than 40 percent. Since that number was released, there’s been a whole lot of shaking going on in the industry with layoffs and re-organizing, especially at newspapers, becoming the order of the day.
National surveys and reports give us a sense of what’s happening in newspapers and media outlets around the United States. AWJ-Chicago’s goal with this survey is to get an idea of where we stand in the industry locally. What kinds of jobs do we women do? Where do we need to make inroads? What can we expect in the future? What do salaries truly look like—in this media market, one of the largest in the country. Finally, are employees satisfied with their jobs?