Did We Dream Big Enough?
By Suzanne Hanney, IWPA President
Suzanne Hanney	We came, we worked hard and we conquered journalism, according to a study on “Where Women Stand in Chicago Newsrooms,” released October 15 by the Association for Women Journalists Chicago. “I never felt being a woman held me back, but I’m not sure any of us dreamed big enough,” said Hanke Gratteau, former managing editor/news at the Chicago Tribune. Gratteau was one of a panel of four top Chicago women journalists who interpreted the findings during a session at Columbia College Chicago.

There’s more opportunity today, but “the next frontier” is publishing, which
determines media operations. Gratteau referred specifically to Sam Zell and his leveraged buy-out of the Tribune. She left the paper in August.

Other panelists included Sally Eisele, managing editor of public affairs for Chicago Public Radio; Lynn A. Norment, a managing editor and member of the
editorial board at Ebony magazine; and Linda Yu, co-anchor of ABC7’s 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. newscasts. Cheryl Corley, a Chicago-based reporter for National Public Radio, moderated.

The research came from a survey of Chicago media conducted by Dr. Gregory
Pitts and Dr. Margaret Young, professors at the Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts at Bradley University in Peoria. (Dr. Young is an IWPA member.) Research was undertaken between December 2007 and February 2008, before many newsroom shakeups. Staff members at the Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media at Columbia College provided support.

Among the findings:

• The largest cluster of reporters, 42 percent (n=18) reported making $30,000 to $40,000 a year. The next largest group, 19 percent (n-8) made $50,000 to $60,000. 28 percent of male respondents made more than $70,000, compared to 19 percent of female respondents.

• Women were more satisfied professionally than men, on a 4.6 scale compared to 3.5 for men. Curiosity was a factor that drew women into the business and a family-friendly environment made a difference, Dr. Young said. Respondents liked to feel they were doing something good for the community and they welcomed the freedom of the job, Dr. Pitt added.

• Women were less satisfied with the family-friendly aspects of their jobs than men. Among women, 73 percent said it was important to “have a job that did not disrupt my family life” compared to 58 percent of men.

The Mom-panelists got personal with stories about the organizational skills they had developed. Gratteau related how one of her then-12-year-old sons asked “does

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