OLD Media Moves

WSJ reporters demand action on diversity

June 22, 2017

Posted by Chris Roush

WSJ 2017Wall Street Journal female reporters have emailed editor Gerard Baker and deputy Matt Murray, expressing their growing frustration that the leadership hasn’t meaningfully addressed the significant pay gap between men and women, and the lack of racial diversity, reports Emily Peck of The Huffington Post.

Peck reports, “The June email landed in Baker’s inbox just days before the Journal reporters’ union issued a detailed report on pay at the paper. The report concluded that women in the union make less than men across the board, even accounting for experience, location and job title. Female reporters earn an average of 91 cents for every dollar their male counterparts make. The disparity widens when you consider all the women in the union ― including non-managerial staff in sales, tech and other areas. They make 87 percent of what men earn.

“The timing of the email was coincidental, the Journal insiders told HuffPost, but the report has created a greater sense of urgency inside the newsroom. (Full disclosure: This reporter was an editor at the Journal from 2006-2011.)

“The note (which you can read in full below) comes just a few months after the departure of the paper’s highest-ranking female editorial leader: Rebecca Blumenstein, who left to take a leadership position at The New York Times. That was a blow to the newsroom and particularly to women who viewed her as a champion and role model, Journal staffers told HuffPost.

“The Journal reporters who spoke to HuffPost asked that their names not be published due to concern for how their superiors would consider their views.”

Read more here.

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