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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMedia called her “brusque” & “polarizing.” But to young women at the NYT, Abramson was everything
Woman at the Top of the MastheadThe media called her brusque and polarizing. But to young women at the New York Times, Jill Abramson was everything.
By Amanda Hess
Every executive editor stands on the shoulders of others, Jill Abramson told the New York Times newsroom when she was named the newspapers executive editor in September 2011. But not all shoulders are the same. At the meeting, Abramson credited over a dozen women who had paved her path to become the papers first top female editor, including groundbreaking Times reporter Nan Robertson, then-Times CEO Janet Robinson, and opinion columnist (and longtime friend of Abramsons) Maureen Dowd.
As Times staffers absorbed Abramsons speech, some younger female reporters looked around and realized that they couldnt summon a similarly robust list of female compatriots. So they formed the Old Girls Club, an occasional after-work happy hour meant to forge relationships between junior women across the paper, which has grown to include some 40 women. They invited Abramson to attend. To their surprise, she turned up at the noisy Manhattan bar, leaned in close, answered every one of their questions, and told dishy anecdotes about how shes dealt with men who projected their own biases onto her work. It was awe-inspiring, the way she took that time out of her life to powwow with us, without ever seeming ceremonial about it, one female staffer in attendance told me. Later, the staffer watched an interview with Abramson on Current TV, where she recalls Abramson saying It was awe-inspiring to her that we were getting together in solidarity with each other, she says. Jill Abramson was inspired by us? That was a total surprise, and it was incredibly heartening to hear.
When Abramson was unexpectedly fired from the Times on Wednesday17 years after joining the paper, and just two-and-a-half years after being tapped to run itmedia reporters noted that she had made history as the first female executive editor in the papers 160-year history. But shooting off that brief line makes it seem as if her contribution to women was as simple as ticking off a box on the Times diversity checklist. According to a half-dozen women who worked with her, though, Abramsons brief stint as the female leader of a male-dominated institution proved to be a transformative experience. By the time she left, media critics would report that staffers deemed her polarizing, bitchy, and not approachable. But to many women at the New York Times, Jill Abramson was everything.
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http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2014/05/jill_abramson_was_everything_to_young_women_at_the_new_york_times.html?
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Media called her “brusque” & “polarizing.” But to young women at the NYT, Abramson was everything (Original Post)
DonViejo
May 2014
OP
frazzled
(18,402 posts)1. Yes, but you know she was "mercurial" and "pushy"
Unlike her successor, who in the Times' own story today (how come they're allowed to talk and she isn't?) is reported to have put his fist through a wall after an argument with Abramson, and who was angry because he thought HE should have been the executive editor. Now that's not mercurial or pushy, is it? Of course not, because men are allowed to hit walls and aggressively pursue positions.
With Mr. Sulzberger more closely monitoring her stewardship, tensions between Ms. Abramson and Mr. Baquet escalated. In one publicized incident, he angrily slammed his hand against a wall in the newsroom. He had been under consideration for the lead job when Ms. Abramson was selected and, according to people familiar with his thinking, he was growing frustrated working with her.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/15/business/media/jill-abramson-being-replaced-as-top-editor-at-times.html?ref=business
This truly seems to be an issue involving blatant sexism, apparently in the firing, but also in all the reporting.