That’s how much Regina Howard Glaspie’s young son once said he’d give her to stay home with him instead of going on a business trip.
Though she didn’t drop her bags at her son’s request, Glaspie did begin to reevaluate her demanding media job and the role of all women in the field of journalism. At the time, Glaspie was the Midwest regional marketing and sales manager and national education project leader for schools and colleges at The New York Times.
Glaspie is now director of marketing and sales at Northwestern University’s Media Management Center. She spoke about new research the center has done on this subject recently at a reception at the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum in Chicago.
Together with the International Women’s Media Foundation, the Media Management Center launched a new study, “Women in the Media 2006: Finding the Leader in You.” The July 11 event coincided with the IWMF’s Leadership Institute for Women Journalists, held July 10-14 in Chicago.
“If we start moving and doing things, we are key to the change [journalism] needs,” Glaspie said, explaining that women can take charge of their media careers by asserting their voices in newsrooms.
The report, which focuses on leading change through innovation, details some of the ways women are continuing to break boundaries in a male-dominated profession.
“You’re always proving yourself a little more,” said Marcy McGinnis, a former senior vice president for news coverage at CBS News, who also spoke at the reception.
McGinnis said she’s seen journalism shift a great deal since she entered the profession when she was in her 20s. Then, it was often difficult to get people to take her seriously, she said, especially at first. She occasionally was mistaken for the daughter of other employees and once was spontaneously lifted by a man in the newsroom who called her a trophy.
Even in the face of obstacles, McGinnis said, risks are worth taking because they may, for example, lead to a new position. She emphasized the importance of negotiating on behalf of oneself in order to demonstrate skill for and interest in particular tasks in the workplace.
Women still hold less than 30 percent of executive-level positions, Glaspie said. Individuals, however – such as those at the IWMF’s Leadership Institute – have the power to change this by advocating for themselves, she said.
“Give of yourself, be confident and speak up.”