Women Challenging the Status Quo

Good journalism often means being willing to challenge the status quo. Investigating wrongdoing or challenging people in very powerful positions. Can you share with us an instance where you perhaps challenged someone, or some thing, and there was significant pushback?

Oh gosh, yesterday. I mean everyday this happens. I think, you know, where I think the news has to go in our company is probably different than what some executives think. And at the beginning I was very forceful, and like this doesn't make sense, this is irrational, it's bad for journalism. And, you know, one of the things that I think the best leaders have figured out very quickly, is that you can't force your way through that brick wall. It will never happen. You have to figure out, whatever the wall is, your unique way around it, and that's different for everybody, whoever you're talking to. So I course corrected very quickly with some of these executives, to try to still be forceful, but maybe not a bully, because, you know, a lot of times that's just, it's counterproductive.

So what's the best way to do that, to be forceful, but not come across as a bully?

Yeah, well I think women in particular have a really hard time with that, because an assertive woman is not always, in my experience, welcomed the same way as an assertive man. And early in my career I did find myself saying: "Well, I don't know. What do you think if..." and all these things that I think, as women in particular, we try to mitigate our own intelligence and try to correct for it. And I think now the best way that I've found is just kill them with data. And a lot of my decisions are really data driven, believe it or not. I think most people think the news is not but, if you can prove things with data, that's pretty hard to argue with.

I also think sometimes, I call it jazz hands, you know, where you have to give them a little bit of razzle-dazzle a little bit. You know, killing people with facts is not always very exciting. You have to inspire them. And you even have to inspire your bosses and get them excited. And a lot of people don't realize the managing up part is often more important than managing down.

Explain that.

Well I mean, for me, I have a newsroom of 200 people. They're difficult at times to manage for sure. They're reporters. They want to question everything. And, as you say, they want to speak truth to power, and that includes me sometimes. But if I'm going to protect them and protect their ability to do the news, and have the resources, then I need to win support from the people who are making the budgetary decisions on top of me. And if I'm not successful in that none of the journalists at the Chronicle are going to be successful.