Goodbye to the last female columnist in New York

[Mediator]

Not only was Johnette Howard one of the best columnists in New York, but she is a woman. Now that her position has been eliminated, there are no more women writing sports columns in New York City. In the last year, Lisa Olson left the Daily News and Selena Roberts left the Times, and they have not been replaced.

Obviously, you want to read a columnist who is good regardless of race or gender, but the fact that these three women consistently turned out quality and thought-provoking work meant something to other young women who wanted to do this for a living. (You could say the same of Shaun Powell, but he is not the last African-American columnist working in New York.)

There are a lot of things about the changes in our business that trouble me greatly. Job loss, circulation drops and finding a sustainable business model among them. This is another. The Yahoos and CBS Sportslines of the world don't hire women to write. ESPN is one of the few outlets that seems to have made a commitment to hiring women and minorities, but elsewhere the industry is leaving that goal behind.

I know there are those of you out there who don't care, or are openly hostile to the happy-faced "diversity" initiatives of the '90s. But I never thought I'd see a major sportscentric city without at least one woman's voice in the mix.

 

[slappy4428]

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/64493/

five down from the top...

 

[Riddick]

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/64493/

five down from the top...

what?

 

[Johnny Dangerously]

I think slappy's calling this a d_b, but I think this thread is taking a different big-picture view of the happenings at Newsday, tying them in with a regrettable series of events.

 

[Blitz]

Unique that no female columnists exist at the big papers there. Can't believe there aren't a few females at smaller papers in area.

 

[playthrough]

I wouldn't call it a d_b either. Pretty sobering stuff.

 

[Mediator]

Tara Sullivan is at the Bergen Record. But the Times, Post, Daily News and Newsday are the only papers you can actually buy in the city.

 

[Joe Williams]

Tara Sullivan is at the Bergen Record. But the Times, Post, Daily News and Newsday are the only papers you can actually buy in the city.

And the number of people who buy those papers hoping to read a female sports columnist is ???

No offense. And I completely appreciate the way mediator framed this situation, pre-empting a lot of automatic recoil to diversity and such. Still, this does into the area of giving people something they need more than something they want, and we're getting it hammered into us all the time that we're presumptuous to think we should be the gatekeepers of what people should want/need.

If someone could cite the click numbers for Johnette Howard or Lisa Olson, and they demonstrated a real appetite, maybe one of these newspapers' managers would make a priority out of this. But in this economic and dying-industry climate, "ought to's" are an especially difficult sell.

 

[shockey]

outstanding point.

and even tara at the record is only an emergency columnist when ian o'conner isn't available. oh, and to put it kindly, tara isn't very good.

 

[Mystery_Meat]

Lupica left?

 

[NightHawk112005]

Not only was Johnette Howard one of the best columnists in New York, but she is a woman. Now that her position has been eliminated, there are no more women writing sports columns in New York City. In the last year, Lisa Olson left the Daily News and Selena Roberts left the Times, and they have not been replaced.

Obviously, you want to read a columnist who is good regardless of race or gender, but the fact that these three women consistently turned out quality and thought-provoking work meant something to other young women who wanted to do this for a living. (You could say the same of Shaun Powell, but he is not the last African-American columnist working in New York.)

There are a lot of things about the changes in our business that trouble me greatly. Job loss, circulation drops and finding a sustainable business model among them. This is another. The Yahoos and CBS Sportslines of the world don't hire women to write. ESPN is one of the few outlets that seems to have made a commitment to hiring women and minorities, but elsewhere the industry is leaving that goal behind.

I know there are those of you out there who don't care, or are openly hostile to the happy-faced "diversity" initiatives of the '90s. But I never thought I'd see a major sportscentric city without at least one woman's voice in the mix.

Not much in terms of diversity, but last I checked, CBSSports' Erin Brown was a woman. She doesn't write a lot, but she is employed by the site as the NHL producer.

Don't confuse that with me saying that CBS is doing a great job hiring women. They aren't, at all. But they aren't all men exclusively.

 

[Montezuma's Revenge]

I don't give a crap if New York has zero female columnists, one, or 10.

I enjoy reading Sally Jenkins not because she's female, but because of the way she writes and what she has to say.

The only relevant thing to me is that a bunch of really good journalists are losing their jobs. It's no better or worse if it happens to a woman.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I'm sad that Olson, Roberts and now Howard are gone, not because they're women, but because they're all great columnists.

 

[BYH]

Lupica left?

I'll admit it, I laughed like hell.

 

[James307]

I thoroughly enjoyed Selena Roberts' columns in the New York Times.
And I currently enjoy Bonnie Ford's writing about cycling and tennis on ESPN.com. Christine Brennan at USA Today has her moments, too.

But on several occasions through the years, columnists and sports editors were hired at newspapers where I was employed simply because of their gender or race and not because they were the best candidates. It wasn't fair then and it's not fair now.

What happens, I think, is that talented columnists "of color" or "ethnic diversity" or "gender whatever" are grouped with others as "minority columnists." What purpose does that serve?

The departure of women columnists from New York is part of what's happening at-large in the newspaper business. It's not a different matter.

I certainly didn't see any designation about all the other columnists who have taken been fired or accepted buyouts as "middle age white guys" or "men columnists."

It's the big picture that's sad, not the fact that it's one particular group or segment of journalists.

 

[slappy4428]

Lupica left?

Girl, not child...

 

[buckweaver]

I certainly didn't see any designation about all the other columnists who have taken been fired or accepted buyouts as "middle age white guys" or "men columnists."

While your overall point is well-taken ... layoffs do not make an exception for gender or race or any other trait ... what don't people get about the fact that the majority is not allowed to whine about not being a minority?

Of course nobody ever points out "middle-aged white guys" or "men columnists." That's because the entire ****ing world of sports journalism is made up of those demographics, with very few exceptions. Suck it up!

Being white or male is not going to automatically ensure you get a good job (although something like 93 percent of this business is white and male.) It's not necessarily going to make you rich. (although women make 77 cents on the dollar compared with men, and whites generally make more than racial minorities, too.) And the real demographic advantage is always, always one of economic background over any other factor.

But if you don't think being white or male has been an inherent advantage in this country, you don't know what you're talking about. There are no hardships to being white or male in this business. None.

 

[imjustagirl]

It's the big picture that's sad, not the fact that it's one particular group or segment of journalists.

And in the big picture, there's an entire segment of the population that is no longer being represented in a columnist's position in the Big Apple.

 

[James307]

I completely disagree.

Been passed over a few times because I wasn't the best hire based on seniority and talent.

Been past over an equal number of times when I was the best hire and the job was awarded to a woman, Asian and African American. None of the three worked out.

Got hired as a columnist once because I was the best candidate.

I guess I should consider myself fortunate.

 

[shotglass]

I'm considerably more concerned about ANY positions being downsized than I am about specific subgroups of the profession being downsized.