[Christina's World, 1948, tempera, by Andrew Wyeth]
Like rubbernecking past a car wreck, I can't resist octogenarian retired CEO Al Neuharth's weekly column, every Friday in USA Today.
Neuharth has influenced Gannett more than any other executive -- probably including founder Frank E. Gannett himself. Ever wonder why the nation's top newspaper publisher emphasizes diversity in employment and editorial policies so fiercely?Big Al explains it in a column today that opens a window on how his childhood in Alpena, S.D., drives Gannett's corporate culture today -- 17 years after he retired as chairman and CEO. The column is a call for the Obama Administration to safeguard women's rights in the new economic stimulus package's work programs.
"These signs were posted at the WPA swimming pool and park project next to the public school,'' he writes:
- Men $5 a day
- Women $3 a day
"But for some time,'' he says, "I had to browbeat racist or sexist managers who did most of the hiring. Some didn't buy my equal opportunity policy until they found their own jobs were at stake if they didn't carry it out. President Barack Obama probably doesn't have a sexist or racist bone in his body. But he must make sure those who implement the stimulus plan don't sabotage him -- and women across the USA."
Neuharth's feminist wife No. 2
She's former state Sen. Lori Wilson of Cocoa Beach, Fla., who fought for the Equal Rights Amendment; they were married 1973-86:
[Christina's World is at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City]
Sorry this is so off the subject matter. But can anyone believe that when he was a kid it cost $5 a day to go to the pool? Heck, I think that's what it is today.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he really doesn't know the difference between supervising and managing.
ReplyDeleteWonder why he feels a need to brag so much.
12:40 PM
ReplyDeleteThat $5.00 is how much men made for a day's work, not the price to swim. Women made $3.00.
We old people "brag" sometimes because we get the feeling that the young whippersnappers don't remember or appreciate our accomplishments.
ReplyDeleteIt's all about what's going on now, not about what happened in the past.
One of the reasons I first went to work for Gannett was because there was a woman publisher at the Muskogee Daily Phoenix. Anyone remember Marj Paxson? I believed any company who would promote a woman to publisher might give me a fair shake. And for the most part, it did.
12:53
ReplyDeletethanks-ok--now I get the $1 a day comment too...
If he weren't phony, he would compel Gannett to comply. I'm a single mom who's the sole source of support for three dependents, yet a Gannett paper thought nothing about laying me off for no apparent reason. My work was not "eliminated," and I am equipped to move to any job in the newsroom.
ReplyDeleteAt least one male friend of the male newsroom management, however, keeps finding protection from layoff, even after his job really was eliminated.
It's clear to every woman I've talked to about it in that newsroom that women are second-class citizens there.
Verification word: scare
It burns me up that Gannett has money to pay him to write this elementary crap while single moms all over the company are getting laid off.
ReplyDeleteI really don't think this guy is clueless. Just heartless and selfish.
1:04 p.m. Same thing at my place, sadly enough. The old boys' network rules.
ReplyDeleteSo you're saying there's been backsliding on equal opportunity?
ReplyDeleteDon't tell anyone this, but I honestly think this guy believes he's Frank Gannett. Thus, the boundary issues with company money.
ReplyDeleteI think he thinks he made it.
To 1:04 p.m. and 1:30 p.m.:
ReplyDeleteWhile it certainly doesn't ease your specific situation, just know that there are examples of the exact opposite in the chain, as well.
Lafayette (LA) has a female publisher, female executive editor, female managing editor, female news editor, female assistant managing editor, female multi-media editor and female features editor.
The only male editors in the newsroom are the photo editor (whose job has been basically overtaken by the aforementioned multi-media editor) and the sports editor.
If I had to guess, the women outnumber the men at The Daily Advertiser by a 2-to-1 margin.
That's not to say it's a bad thing, just something that is seemingly rare in this "male-dominated" medium.
Oddly enough, it seems women struggle more with being supervised by women than the men. Most of the women who have left did so because they couldn't get along with their female supervisors.
3:02 p.m., I'm 1:30.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate what you said. In our case, it's not the number of men versus women in positions. It's what the men in the positions get away with and it can't always be quantified. I seriously think at least one of the editors doesn't think women should be in the workplace, or have the authority they do. I've talked about it with female supervisors in other departments and they feel the same way. We can do the work, but the male workers still get the perks and the attention.
How ironic that Big Al was a champion of women's rights at the same time that he was nailing anything that didn't move fast enough to get away.
ReplyDeleteWhat an appropriately Newseum-sized hypocrite.
The had a quickie divirce in Puerto Rico. The year was 1982.
ReplyDelete