I may well be viewing things from the vantage point of the advantaged, but I see cracks in the media glass ceiling. At Business Day, Pearl Sebelao has replaced Robyn Chalmers as deputy editor. Rehana Roussouw has stepped up to position as managing editor; she was previously deputy editor of the Mail & Guardian.
At Pretoria News, Zingisa Mkhuma is steering the ship as acting editor. Independent Newspapers always tries out editor candidates in an acting capacity, so it’s no stretch to know that she will soon take the job, if she wants it.
At the Cape Times, Alide Dasnois is now deputy to Tyrone August after an excellent stint as editor of the Business Report, the business section of all the group’s morning titles. At the Saturday Star, Janet Smith has been appointed managing editor, a fine move for one of journalism’s best hands. And after a stint stewarding the magazine Sawubona, Lizeka Mda is now managing editor of the City Press.
At the SABC, chief executive Dali Mpofu has shown himself to be a committed feminist. Most of his senior appointments have been female. And at e-tv, Debra Patta runs a tight ship.
Other than Patta’s appointment, all these have happened after Sanef published its first glass ceiling study which found that the media as an institution was not friendly to gender empowerment. Can we possibly claim all the credit? Hardly. The national context in which gender empowerment is encouraged and legislated will assist to ensure that the media industry walks its talk.
Each of the appointments has been made on merit and on a proven record.
When will the glass ceiling be cracked? As with empowerment in the rest of our country, we can only claim “transformation” once leadership reflects the national demographic.
Since women make up just over half of the population, we in the fourth estate still have a long walk to equality though it is vital that we chalk up the progress as it happens. To not see and appreciate change can be depressing.
How do we crack it? The second phase of Sanef’s Glass Ceiling study points to ways forward. There is still a gender pay gap: in less polite terms, this means that women are paid less for doing the same work as men. In my experience, women with families do desire flexible working arrangements that will not stymie their progress.
Maternity leave, paid in full for between three and four months, is best practice and still a huge issue in the industry.
Generally, I found when appointed editor that there was no blueprint to assist me on my way. Deep-ending is good because it forces you to swim, but we need general editor training, not just for women or for blacks.
Editing in the 21st century requires a different set of skills. In my experience, newsrooms are smaller; multi-tasking is the order of the day and editors require business skills.
When our owner, Trevor Ncube, said this three years ago, many of us were aghast, though I now value the benefits of understanding the business model, knowing our readers better and understanding editorial to advertising ratios.
Our labour laws are deeply complex while human capital is scarce and prized. Talented journalists, fantastic writers, investigators must all be honed and rewarded. Competition for skills is intense and being able to ensure that you have a newsroom of excited professionals is perhaps the biggest task.
Then, of course, there’s the business of producing balanced broadcasts or beautiful newspapers; of running excellent opinion pages or talk shows; of telling politics well and finding a balance between lifestyle coverage with the role of a true fourth estate.
None of this is above senior women journalists as the buoyant magazine sector has always known and as the rest of the industry is quickly finding out. There is no keeping a good woman down.
Ferial Haffajee is the editor of the weekly Mail & Guardian and the chairperson of the South African National Editors Forum.