March 2004

On the Fast Track

Women make strides as daily record 44% increase in female publishers

By Pauline Word
Messenger Editor

A new face is emerging in Texas’ newspaper management and she is making history in her climb to the top.

Women are steadily gaining ground into the publisher’s seat and they’re bringing the industry into a new era.

Newspaper management traditionally has been held by men but women publishers now serve at 24 percent of Texas newspapers.

The most recent and dramatic change is among daily newspapers where Texas’ 90 dailies have experienced a 44 percent increase in the number of women publishers in just the last few months.

And since September two dailies — each more than 100 years old — entered historic territory by hiring their first-ever female publishers.

Women have long been trailblazers at Texas weeklies where 27 percent of publishers are women, many of whom own and operate their own newspapers. But women in management at semiweeklies and dailies lag behind their male counterparts — only 13 of 90 dailies and nine of 58 semiweeklies and two triweeklies have women publishers.

For the first time in TPA’s 124-year history, the association is poised to elect back-to-back women presidents and the first ever woman from a daily newspaper — Wanda Garner Cash, editor and publisher of The Baytown Sun, who is slated to take office in June. Judy Johnson, publisher of The Hometown Press (Winnie), is in line for the top spot in June 2005.

Cash, who has been in her present position for four and a half years, was surprised at the growing number of fellow daily women publishers in Texas.

“I’m encouraged to see women making those strides,” she said.

The new women publishers all are at small Texas dailies, less than 10,000 circulation.

“I think it’s a cultural and generational change. I think men are more accepting of women in management and leadership roles today,” Cash said.

Two other women have served as TPA president — the first in 1990-91, Mary Judson, co-publisher of the weekly Port Aransas South Jetty, and in 1995-96 Sarah Greene, publisher of semiweekly The Gilmer Mirror.

“Those shoes are bigger than mine and I’m going to have a hard time filling them,” Cash said of her female predecessors.

Times are a Changing

In January Amy Miller was named the first woman publisher of the 100-year-old Jacksonville Daily Progress, which is owned by Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. (CNHI).

In September, Karla DeLuca became the first woman to lead the 105-year-old Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel.

In Jacksonville, Miller took the reins Jan. 12 after coming up through the advertising side of the business and serving as advertising director for a year and a half. She joined the Progress staff in June 2002 and is excited about her first job as publisher.

“I love it,” Miller said. “I’m learning a lot. It’s a challenge.”

Miller said she learned from the previous publisher Bill Morgan, who moved to sister newspaper the Athens Daily Review, that “making each department work together” is the key to publishing a great newspaper.

“I think the key is the team that you have,” she said.

Women publishers do face different challenges than men in the same role and may meet resistance to change from their communities and even staff members. But all the new female publishers seem ready for the challenge.

Notable Women in Newspapers Nationwide

Sue Clark-Johnson
The Arizona Republic, CEO and publisher; Gannett Pacific Newspaper Group, senior group president; Phoenix Newspapers Inc., chairman and CEO, 2000-present

Karen Elliott House
Senior vice president of Dow Jones & Company and publisher of The Wall Street Journal, July 2002-present

Janet Robinson
The New York Times Company, chief operating officer and executive vice president; upon the retirement of Russell T. Lewis at the end of 2004, she will assume his titles of president and chief executive officer

In Nacogdoches, DeLuca welcomes the test case of being the Sentinel’s first female publisher — she also is the editor and comes from the editorial side. She came from sister Cox-owned newspaper the Marshall News Messenger where she was managing editor since 1999.

“This is different because you get to deal with all the aspects of the newspaper,” she said. “I really enjoy learning new things.”

DeLuca replaced Gary Borders who moved to another sister newspaper the Lufkin Daily News.

In Orange last month, Charlotte Lynch became only the second woman publisher of the 129-year-old The Orange Leader. The position had been vacant until Glenn Stifflemire stepped in recently as regional publisher in Orange and sister CNHI property the Port Arthur News. Last month he hired Lynch to take over in Orange.

“I’m ecstatic. My community here is absolutely fabulous. It’s been a wonderful transition to finally accept a publisher position,” Lynch said.

Lynch has been in newspapers since the ’90s and came up through the advertising side, working for CNHI papers in Oklahoma and serving as the company’s regional advertising director in Iowa.

“I was proud enough to be chosen for this position,” she said of the publisher role.

“I’m still smiling after so many years of hard work. … I love this business.”

In 2001 Judy Allen became the first female publisher of the 78-year-old Borger News-Herald. Allen has been at the newspaper off and on since 1974 and rose through the ranks after starting as a runner for advertising proofs and tearsheets.

“I love this newspaper,” Allen said.

Allen sees no difference in whether the publisher job is held by a man or woman. The key, she said, is developing a good rapport with customers to gain their respect.

“It’s a very rewarding job. It’s busy and it’s hectic,” she said.

Eight other females serve in the top post at Texas dailies — 13 dailies have women publishers but Sue Mayborn is publisher of both the Temple Daily Telegram and Killeen Daily Herald so in all 12 women hold Texas daily publisher jobs.

Susanne Reed took over in January at the Big Spring Herald to replace interim publisher Chuck Williams. Last summer Brenda Adams became publisher at the Sweetwater Reporter.

Longtime daily women publishers include Pearl Austin Mathis of the Edinburg Daily Review and weekly Rio Grande Herald, Genevieve Ratcliff editor and publisher of the Fort Worth Commercial Recorder, Helen Lutz at the San Antonio Commercial Recorder, Lynette Copley at Mexia Daily News, Cash and Mayborn.

Two other women serve as co-publishers of Texas dailies — Susan Clay at the Dalhart Daily Texan and Linda Shepard at the Coastal Bend Legal & Business News in Corpus Christi.

Women in the Nation

The Media Management Center at Northwestern University has been studying the issue of women in newspaper management and last year issued the final part of the three-year report “Women in Newspapers 2003: Challenging the Status Quo” by Mary Arnold Ph.D. and Marlene Lozada Hendrickson.

The report found that only 25 women, compared with 112 men, lead the nation’s largest 137 newspapers with circulation more than 85,000. The report showed an increase in 2003 to 18 percent from 14 percent in 2002 with women serving as publishers, presidents and CEOs, even though the overall number of women in daily newspaper management remains low.

The percentage of women executives remains the highest in personnel, marketing and community affairs, according to the study, but those areas are not on the preferred track for moving into the highest positions.

In editorial, 40 percent of managing editors are women, but only 22 percent of those at the top of the news department are women, according to the report.

In the United States, women comprise 46 percent of the workforce, but head up just eight Fortune 500 companies.

The same is true in the United States government. Women occupy only eight of the 50 governor’s mansions and 14 percent of the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. There are 14 female senators and three females of 14 cabinet members.

Weekly Women

At Texas weeklies the picture is brighter where 27 percent of the 377 publishers are women. Eight women also own and publish multiple weekly newspapers and some Texas weeklies have an all-woman staff. And in Texas’ newspaper groups several women also serve as dual publisher of two weekly newspapers.

In Gilmer, Greene is researching the topic of women in newspapers for the TPA 125th anniversary anthology. She was pleased to learn of the increase in women daily publishers, especially within group-owned newspapers.

“That just shows there are opportunities for capable women to move on up,” Greene said.

Historically, independent newspapers are run by a husband and wife and the woman serves as editor or advertising director while the man is the publisher, Greene said. Leadership of many of those newspapers passes on to the woman with the death of a spouse or parent.

Greene also attributed the increase in women in newspaper management to more choosing it as a career.

“I think there are more women in journalism now,” Greene said.