Have you ever had an experience where you felt that being a woman in the journalism field set you apart from your male peers?
I was working on a story about sexual assault on a college campus and I think people were more open about speaking to me regarding these issues because I was able to relate to them.
What do you hope for the next generation of young women entering the journalism field? What are your hopes for them? What would you like that space to be like?
Journalism is often seen as a 'dying' field without many career paths and bad pay, etc. I hope that as a society, we're able to 'revive' it in a way and recognize the importance of it to a functioning society. I hope that women entering the field are able to see that they play such an important role in reporting and writing and that they know they belong. Especially as a young woman, I often feel like I don't know enough/am too young to be writing about the things I do/am not taken seriously but we need young voices in politics and being involved is the only way to get experience. Also, it can be so fun to get so many new experiences and learn so many different things so embrace that :)
Why did you choose to pursue a career in journalism?
I love writing and being involved politically, so journalism seemed to be the perfect career. I've always felt drawn to it throughout my life and I enjoy meeting new people and making an impact.
Do you have any role models in the journalism field that you look up to? (Could be a woman, doesn't have to be)
Joan Didion, Susan Sontag, Christiane Amanpour, Lisa Desjardins
How do you feel women are represented in your area of reporting? How do you think the business challenges facing the news industry have impacted the representation of women in your field?
I think in any field of journalism, men outnumber women. In political journalism this is especially so. While women have become increasingly respected in these fields, there is still a long way to go in terms of the gender pay gap and being equally treated. Business wise, many smaller, community-focused newspapers are going out of business, which I think is harmful for the field of journalism as a whole as well as people having access to information.
In your opinion, what are the advantages of having more women in journalism?
Women bring a unique perspective to any field and they are needed as reporters as much as they are needed in any other career. I believe women can be more empathetic than men in some situations which is key in humanitarian and political reporting. I think throughout the field there needs to be more representation of minorities because we are often reporting on issues that will affect minorities the most and we need their voices and perspectives.