Welcome to Technology for Publishing’s roundup of news highlighting women’s roles, contributions, and achievements in the evolving media business. This latest installment covers how NBCUniversal’s Bonnie Hammer is shaking up her group’s networks, former Times veteran Denise Warren’s plan to turn around Tribune Publishing, highlights of this year’s Cosmo 100 event, the MediaGuardian 100 list of the most influential people in media, and more.
- Tuned in In today’s rapidly changing television environment, Bonnie Hammer, chairman of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Group, is “shaking things up” at the 10 networks she heads—starting from the ground up. “It’s taking a look at every piece of the organization, almost from a zero base,” she says in a profile on Adweek, which named Hammer TV Exec of the Year. For one, the industry veteran took down silos within the group, combining Bravo, Oxygen, E!, and Esquire Network into the Lifestyle Networks Group to make operations “neater, cleaner, and more nimble in terms of everything from sales to early-stage development,” she says. On programming, Hammer pushed for more diversity among cable properties built on reality franchises, launching for the first time scripted series, including “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce” and “Odd Mom Out” on Bravo, “The Royals” on E!, and “Spotless” on Esquire, among other moves.
- Tall order Denise Warren has her work cut out for her as Tribune Publishing’s CEO of East Coast newspapers and president of digital. The 26-year New York Times veteran, credited with helping to build the Times’ successful paid subscription strategy, joined Tribune Publishing in May, charged with the sizable task of modernizing the struggling newspaper’s business. In a Digiday interview, Warren laid out the challenges she sees and the main areas she’s focused on: pushing paid, elevating technology, getting efficient, putting mobile first, and distributing on platforms.
- Power lunch Cosmo EIC Joanna Coles recently hosted Cosmo 100, a nearly annual event (Coles missed last year’s because, in her words, she couldn’t get her sh– together) that brings together influential women across media, business, technology, politics, and other fields to discuss topics impacting women. Among the many media A-listers were Katie Couric, Gayle King, Hearst’s Ellen Levine, and Joan Lunden, who opened up about her breast cancer treatment and efforts to raise public awareness of the disease, according to FishbowlNY.
- Come a long, baby? In a departure from “too male, pale, and stale” power lists, one in three of this year’s MediaGuardian 100 list of the most influential people in media are women, the Guardian reports. That’s up by more than half compared with last year, but there’s a caveat: The majority of powerful media positions are still filled by men. What’s more, only 10% of the top 1oo represent diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. “While board-level positions are still overwhelmingly held by white men, more women than ever before wield influence over the industry,” the report offers. For example, Taylor Swift was recognized for successfully taking on Apple in a push to get paid for her work. Other media leaders recognized include Guardian global EIC Katharine Viner, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, and News UK chief Rebekah Brooks.
- Mastering new media On her “path toward global dominance,” Bloomberg Markets anchor Betty Lui connects with her viewers both on and off camera, actively using Twitter and Instagram to share everything from standard show promotions to more personal moments, like her morning make-up sessions before going on air. “[People] want that authenticity, and sometimes you don’t get as much of that off-the-cuff or behind-the-scenes look when you’re on air,” Liu says in a Digiday article on how the financial journalist and book author is using social and other media to create a more “intimate” relationship with viewers and listeners. “I think a lot of times people think when you’re on camera, you’re not like them.” Her latest venture beyond the anchor desk is Radiate, a podcast launched in October featuring conversations with “the smartest minds in business and society.”
- Still underrepresented The most recent report from the Global Media Monitoring Project, which since 1995 has measured how women are represented in the media, found that the growth of digital platforms hasn’t changed the low visibility of women and women’s issues in the news. According to a post from the International Journalists’ Network, the study shows just 26% of online news and tweets include women, which is only slightly higher than 24% of print newspaper, television, and radio stories. In terms of stories reported by women, the overall percentage has held at 37% since 2005, the report found. Meanwhile, the overall percentage of news stories focused on women stands at just 10%, a figure that hasn’t changed since 2000.
Hiring news roundup
- Amy Emmerich was promoted to the newly created role of chief content officer at Refinery29, previously serving as executive vice president of programming.
- Jessica Derrick was promoted to senior vice president of Garden & Gun. Derrick will also continue in her current job as brand development director.
- Shana Hale is now creative director at The Trade Desk. Hale previously was creative director, advertising, at Better Homes and Gardens.
- Florence Kane joined Glamour as digital fashion director. Kane was co-founder and editorial director of JeanStories.com and previously wrote for Vogue and T: The New York Times Style Magazine.
- Joanne Lipman took the chief content officer spot at Gannett. She had served as the founding editor of Condé Nast Portfolio.
- Margarita Noriega is now director of social media at Newsweek, previously serving as an editor at Vox.com.
- Caryn Prime, director of editorial operations at Entertainment Weekly, joined Marie Clair as managing editor.
- Jill Seelig was named publisher of Hearst’s Dr. Oz The Good Life. Seelig was a senior vice president of corporate development for Hearst Magazines.
- Lucy Silberman joined Maxim as managing editor. She previously worked at Harper’s Bazaar as managing editor.
- Renee Wilson was appointed the new president of the PR Council, succeeding Kathy Cripps. Wilson currently serves as chief client officer at MSLGroup.
Let us know in the comments if there are any other recent stories or career moves you’d like us to include in our next Women in Media roundup.
Photo: Adweek
Technology for Publishing’s Women in Media blog highlights the news and achievements of female leaders and role models in the publishing and media industry. Look for our in-depth profiles and interviews of top women to watch. Is there someone you’d like to nominate for an upcoming Q&A? Drop us a note!
Posted by: Monica Sambataro
