Women as News Anchors Essay -- Women Feminism Careers Employment Essay

Women as News Anchors   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Women in all careers are striving to gain equality in the work force today, and female television news anchors are definitely part of the fight. The road to television news anchoring is a rocky one, where only a few women survive and many fail. Where progress was once thought to have been made, there aren't many females getting ahead in the world of television news. Today, there is a very slow, if any, gain in the numbers of women who succeed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many questions surrounding the subject of women in television news, and I will attempt to answer relevant ones in this paper. How have the women that actually make it to the top and succeed as anchorwomen, done it? What does it take to make it? Why do those few endure it/enjoy it? Why has it been and still is difficult for women? What are the expectations of women in the field, as opposed to the expectations of men?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I am interested in this topic because I once aspired to become a television broadcaster. I still have inspiration in me, but not quite as much due to the negative and discouraging aspects I have heard about in classes and in the media. I am not sure that I could be happy in a career such as this, and I know there are great difficulties in "making it" in this profession. I have read about the incredible ambition of successful females in television news, and it seems like it takes a special kind of passion to want to keep up in the business.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I kept my questions in mind when gathering research material. While focusing on the key questions, I was able to find information that led me to form answers to them. Christine Craft's biography told of her individual experience of being fired on the basis of her looks and her age. I realized from reading her story that she had a "nose for news", a passion for telling it to the world, and a unique spark that made her a good journalist, yet those qualities weren't enough in her case. She took that passion and spark, filed a sexual discrimination case and won.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hard News: Women in Broadcast Journalism had a few chapters that were relevant to today, and I could draw on some information for my paper. However, much of the information was historical and not helpful to answering my questions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Battling for News concentrated mainly on print journalism. There was material about the fi... ...ays of anchormen, "Old anchors never fade away. And they can't be killed by mortal means" (Katz 1995, p. 164).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sadly, forward movements aren't apparent today by women in television news. Forty years ago, a female gaining the anchor position on the evening news was a leap forward. Today "it feels more like a step backward, an attempt to stuff accomplished, contemporary women into an ill-fitting straightjacket" (Katz 1995, p. 164).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is apparent that women news anchors face many more struggles than men in the field. It takes a unique individual to fight through those struggles and strive for what they want most: to relay news throughout the world. Equality with men is far from being reached, but a few females have stood their ground and hopefully made a difference for others that follow. If people open their eyes and realize there are plenty of women who are just as, if not more, competent than men at holding an anchor position, women could gain respect within the field. For now, the few women who find success and are willing to endure the hardships that come along will likely survive in the business, at least until age hinders their physical appearance.