Interrupt patterns

The facts speak for themselves. Women are woefully underrepresented in newsrooms globally.

39% are journalists.
Only 26% are in journalism leadership.
Women of color represent about 8% of U.S. print newsroom staff, 6% of local radio staff, & about 13% of local TV news staff.
Women are constantly discredited.
Women and girls are the subject of fewer than 20% of news stories.

It's personal: "You have too much power," the general manager told me. "I want to give the hosting job to a younger woman." Then, he fired me from the public affairs program that I founded and hosted for several years. After a series of younger women sat at the mic, the permanent role was given to a white, middle-aged male for the next 12 years, until the program ended in 2020.

It's political: A publisher recently said he would run my Op-Ed about the politics of abortion if I deleted a few particular lines – the central thread of the piece. "It's too personal," he said.

Action: Here, in my 7th decade, I decided to launch My Op-Eds to publish Fax Machines and Abortion because the personal is political. II'll be posting about politics, the arts, education, friendship, love – issues that grab my attention. As Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said, "It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent."

June 7, 2024

Linda Belans

The message is clear: We need to kick all republican candidates to the Has Beens of history because they want to control what goes on inside our bodies! When we elect Democrats up and down the ballot, President Biden will codify Roe and make it the law of the land. We will have permanent dominion over the inside of our own bodies once and for all. Here is a way to do that.

Linda Belans, Ed.D, is an award-winning journalist, the founding host of The State Of Things on public radio, Fellow in the NC Institute of Political Leadership, and author -States Of Being: Leadership Coaching for Equitable Schools.

The facts speak for themselves. Women are woefully underrepresented in newsrooms globally.

39% are journalists.

Only 26% are in journalism leadership.

Women of color represent about 8% of U.S. print newsroom staff, ​6% of local radio staff, & about 13% of local TV news staff.

Women are constantly discredited.

Women and girls are the subject of fewer than 20% of news stories.​​

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Women of color represent about 8% of U.S. print newsroom staff, 6% of local radio staff, & about 13% of local TV news staff.

Women and girls are the subject of fewer than 20% of news stories.