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Buyouts claim a huge name: Jackie MacMullan out

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by BYH, Apr 1, 2008.

  1. In Exile

    In Exile Member

    Is there another paper now the size of the Globe, or nearly so, with no minority a/o female sports columnists?

    And anecdotally, the loss of female writers across the board is significant - not all are landing in broadcast or internet, and since few hires of any kind are taking place, its not like they are being replaced. Similarly I see far far fewer stories written by female reporters these days, who tend to be younger and in these economic times, seem to be the first to lose space. Seems to be the last hired, first fired syndrome.
     
  2. MMatt60

    MMatt60 Member

    In Exile: I don't think women are being forced out; I think many (especially in the editing ranks) are opting out because of bad hours, low pay. Or choosing not to enter the business at all.
     
  3. MMatt60

    MMatt60 Member

    BT Express: That has to be just a coincidence, I'm sure!
     
  4. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    My last couple of stops, there have been women aplenty on sports copy desks, and copy desks are where management eventually comes from, so I would think that's a good sign.
     
  5. Mediator

    Mediator Member

    So all the women are just choosing to leave papers? Hmm... that just doesn't seem right to me. Women who write are just as likely to get a rush when they make a tight deadline or break a story, and want to stay in the business.

    Anecdotally, a lot of women in this business stagnate once they hit the middle of the pack, status wise. If a woman chooses to have a "normal" life, marriage and kids, what are the odds she is taken seriously as a writer? Look at the biggest women in the business -- Leslie Visser, Christine Brennan, Selena and Lisa -- often they don't have kids. And no, they aren't all lesbians. (Please post the obligatory lesbian jokes on the "Anything Goes" board.)

    Sports departments don't care, and I'm not sure they should. But daddys who have to curtail an assignment to pick up a kid are heros. Women who put family as a priority are a cliche.

    I'm not sure this relates to Jackie, but I think it explains why some women leave the business. It's not just about getting plucked for TV and internet jobs at the end of the rainbow.
     
  6. EdReed

    EdReed Member

    Mirroring a previous post, I think women are still pretty noticeable in the newsrooms I've seen. My shop for example:

    Female Publisher
    Female Executive editor
    Female Managing editor
    Female Assistant managing editor
    Female Lifestyle editor
    Female Business editor

    As far as columnists, mine (a well-spoken African-American male) was taken to join the editorial page, so my 100,000-circ. daily has no full-time columnist. The position was taken off the books. They just saw no need for a columnist. I guess the upper-up mentality is to just spit out the news and let the readers form their own opinions.
     
  7. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    Seriously, I'm not trying to be sexist here (I prefer to be sexist elsewhere) but I often have wondered whether female sportswriters feel some strain on their marriage or significant relationship because of their work?

    I'm not sure how much I would like it if my wife were spending so much of her time in a male-dominated environment (locker rooms, arenas, media work rooms), around guys both clothed and occasionally unclothed. The jokes, the camaraderie, the late hours, the road life, etc., would seem to introduce factors into the writers' personal lives that aren't quite the same issues with male writers. My wife works in health care and I know she has helped men patients into/out of their hospital gowns, etc., but it's all so clinical and most of her co-workers are female and so on.

    Here's a question, too: Proportionately, I'm guessing that there are (or at least have been) more female columnists relative to male columnists than female beat writers relative to male beat writers. Is that the result of editors wanting to rush that mug shot into the paper to wave a flag about how modern they are? Is it a safer haven for female writers? More suited to their skills? Or am I wrong on that guess? Just seems to me I see more female columnists (and maybe G.A. or feature types or "Olympics") than I do mainstream female beat writers.
     
  8. Ben_Hecht

    Ben_Hecht Active Member

    Hard to believe JMac won't get multiple, quality offers.

    What she does with them is her business.
     
  9. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Of course she will, which is why she took the buyout. It was the same thing for JA Adande and probably for Sam Smith... They all have bigger paychecks waiting.
     
  10. bob

    bob Member

    Jackie has been working under contract to ESPN for some time. That's one reason she took the buyout. If I'm not mistaken, she has to make 50 appearances a year, something like that.
     
  11. scalper

    scalper Member

    No tears for big names who land in a studio chair at ESPN. That's as crazy as the IU players putting K.S. on their shoes, like their coach had died. He got a large six-figure buyout.

    Where do I sign up for that?
     
  12. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    No offense, but it seems to me that strain is more on her insecure husband than it is on her. ::)

    "It's all so clinical," you say about women in the medical profession. Are women in journalism somehow less professional in a locker room? It's insulting to think they're not.
     
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