Anna Kwidzinska & Amanda Sheaffer
Four women discussed the challenges of working in media this week for the "Women in Diversity" series sponsored by Marquette's Multicultural Programs.
In the eyes of two women in the media, the dazzling world of television and the glossy pages of magazines are not all black and white when it comes to creating perceptions of minorities in the United States.
Tayyibah Taylor is founder, publisher and editor in chief of Azizah, the first magazine in the United States for Muslim women. Portia Young anchors and reports for Milwaukee's ABC affiliate Channel 12.
Together, the women spoke at Monday's "Women of Color in the Media" lecture on how American media contribute to certain misrepresentations and stereotypes in society.
Taylor, who grew up in Canada during the 1960s, said she wanted to change societal misconceptions with her magazine. She established Azizah as a way to portray Muslim women differently than other media do.
She said most news about Muslim women is skewed. It presents them as a population that is afraid, suppressed or backward—"that misperception of, 'You must be foreign to be Muslim. You must be Arab to be Muslim,'" Taylor said.
The magazine aims to throw such misconceptions to the wind and provide a vehicle for women's voices to be heard.
Young began her career in journalism while working on her high school yearbook. Because she attended an all-girls school, Young said she developed high self-esteem that helped her compete in a mostly male-dominated field.
Often, individuals' skin color works for or against them in television news, according to Young. In a quest to diversify the nation's newsrooms, station officials may sometimes choose racial minorities for the job and avoid the "status quo" white applicants.
As a woman, Young said she resisted situations in which people expected her to use her femininity to get a story.
"A lot of times there are women in journalism who are expected to be 'the pretty face' and use their womanly guiles to woo cops to try to talk to them, but I don't really do stuff like that," Young said. "I just try to tell the story."
Young said she has not felt a great struggle in her career in terms of race or gender.
Some students who turned out for the event said they gained certain insights from Taylor and Young.
"I was reluctant because, as I entered the room, it was mainly women," said Helmy Mostafa, a male School of Dentistry graduate student. "I'm going to be reading Azizah. Being stereotyped in the media is something that affects me."
In a panel entitled "Women in Print Media" Wednesday night, a photojournalist and a freelance journalist discussed how they broke into journalism and their various experiences on the job.
Elizabeth Flores-Joles, a photojournalist for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and Rebecca Levine, a freelancer for the Express News each participated in a forum with Marquette students about the rewards and challenges of being a woman in print journalism.
"It's important to let people know that journalism is alive and kicking," Levine said. "Women are becoming more prominent in this field, and I think without journalism people would be lost."
Mainly covering school board meetings and other community activities in Germantown, Levine knew since eighth grade she wanted to be a journalist.
"I've always had a passion for writing," Levine said.
Flores-Joles was majoring in business at junior college when her future husband introduced her to photography.
"I'd always see him around with a camera taking pictures," Flores-Joles said. "The more and more I got to know him, the more and more I got into photography. I attribute most of my success to him."
Flores-Joles said she was overwhelmed at the segregation in Milwaukee when she first started at the Journal-Sentinel, but thought she had a leg up when starting her career because of her own life experiences.
"I cover stories that maybe people don't want to see or are difficult to see," Flores-Joles said. "I love covering the inner city because everyone is a story."
She covered the Charles Young beating on the south side and would like to do a story on the cases of lead poisoning in low-income areas.
Despite juggling unpredictable work hours and balancing family with career, Flores-Joles emphasized many positive aspects of her job. She considers the feedback she receives from her work to be one of the them.
"The power you have to make an impact on people's lives is the greatest reward," she said. "I always wanted to make a difference because growing up I was always told I couldn't."
Flores-Joles, who covered the 2004 Presidential election and attended both the Democratic and Republican conventions advised students to be unbiased in their reporting.
"Objectivity is key," Joles said. "You have to get both sides of the story."
"This presentation was a perfect combination for people interested in print journalism," said Natalie Gross, interim dean for multicultural programs in the Office of Student Develpment. "It was good for career exploration and reminds students of the options they have."
This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on April 7 2005.