Gendered Experiences of Industry Change and the Effects of Neoliberalism

Abstract

In a time of dramatic and rapid change in the global media industry and when technological advances and media concentration are shaping the way news is produced and consumed, little research has focused on how the producers of news are affected by such change. This paper explores narratives of confidence and cynicism as told to me by Australian print news media journalists. I am interested in journalists' memories and experiences of personal change that arise from an intensified workplace and how neoliberal discourses affect newsroom culture. How do the journalists I interview experience and speak of changes in the newsroom? In what ways is being a journalist different now to when they entered the industry? In effect, how have journalists changed as a result of journalism's changes? The interviews with 17 print media journalists contain rich narratives with which to explore how participants remember and make sense of industry changes. This paper finds that the intensification of work practices, ethical constraints and gender bias, underpinned by neoliberalism, have aided in creating a cynicism among many of the journalists interviewed. Nevertheless, the majority of interviewees suggest that a career in journalism has increased their personal and/or professional confidence. There are, however, gendered differences in this experience.

Gender as a multi-layered issue in journalism: A multi-method approach to studying barriers sustaining gender inequality in Belgian newsrooms

“…This incompatibility of journalism and motherhood is a widely cited reason for the early departure of women journalists (Aldridge, 2001;Elmore, 2007;Weaver and Wilhoit, 1996). North (2009) suggests that neoliberal discourses in newsrooms frame the decision to leave journalism as a personal life choice for women, instead of embedding it in a broader structural or institutional context, rendering the male norm invisible, and resulting in the belief that specific policies aimed at creating a better work-life balance are unnecessary. Hence, women journalists are frequently forced to choose between their career and motherhood, which is why optimism that is based on the substantial increase in the number of women journalists is partially incorrect.…”

“…To date, research on gender issues in journalism has been more or less unexplored territory in Belgium. International studies either focus on quantitative methods, providing statistical information about the employment patterns of men and women journalists (Byerly, 2013;EIGE, 2013;GMMP, 2015;IWMF, 2011;WMC, 2017), or use qualitative methods to gain insight into the experiences of women journalists (Elmore, 2007;Everbach, 2009;Lobo et al, 2017;North, 2009). Researchers note that although the 'body count' is a useful and necessary step in monitoring gender inequality in journalism, it is often not sufficient for understanding the subtle and invisible mechanisms of gender bias (de Bruin, 2000;Gallagher, 2001).…”

Proposing a culture-centered approach to career scholarship: The example of subsistence careers in the US Arctic

“…At the occupational level, Griffiths et al (2007) noted how women professionals in the British information technology (IT) industry were hampered by the rampant masculinization of IT work and found their career prospects limited by mainstream societal images of (male, white) IT workers (see also Brown et al, 2010;North, 2009). Specific firm-level cultures are also seen to encourage or disable individuals' career aspirations and enactments.…”

“…For instance, Buzzanell (1995) and North (2009) argued that the glass ceiling was constituted and resisted through everyday communicative practices, centering co-performed agency among organizational members across managerial levels, instead of purely individual or structural factors. Moreover, LaPointe (2010) noted that the appropriation of cultural ideals to construct what career meant for a Finnish participant depended both on the researcher's express agreement and her probing questions, not just in the participant's prior ('actual') experience.…”

Working for less: the aftermath for journalists made redundant in Australia between 2012 and 2014

“…Yet, for those employees, including journalists and other media workers, whose positions are made redundant, they represent a critical life event that can have long-term deleterious impacts, ranging from the breakup of workplace communities to loss of income, social isolation, and poor physical and mental health outcomes (Blyton & Jenkins, 2012;Gardiner et al, 2009). From work related to other dimensions of workplace experience of change in journalism, it is also evident that gender and other social relations may well feature as part of the redundancy process (North, 2009). As such, workplace change has significantly contradictory outcomes for employers, managers, and employees.…”