Newsworthy: The Lives of Media Women

Dean Tudor is a journalism professor at the Ryerson Polytechnical
Institute and founding editor of the CBRA.

This is a useful history and summary of the positions occupied by about 100 women in the Canadian news media. Most of them, though, are in radio and television, and only a few are in newspapers; hardly any are in magazines. At least, that is the representative sample that Crean presents. She interviewed as many as she could of the most visible women in the business, but few producers, lineup editors, or managers were canvassed. And the journalists seem to be mainly in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

Crean examines their career paths and their obstacles (mostly leering men); however, no real sense of outrage is expressed by Crean or (by tone) by those interviewed. This is mainly flat reporting, with repeated quotes from their conversations. French-Canadians are covered, which is first rate since they rarely get mentioned in English Canada. From deep history there is material on E. Cora Hind, Sara Duncan, and Kit Coleman. From the newspapers there is June Callwood, Christina McCall, Marjorie Nichols, Carol Goar, and Barbara Amiel. From radio there is Betty Kennedy, Kate Aitken, Claire Wallace, Valerie Pringle, and Margaret Pacsu. From televison there is Jan Tennant, Adrienne Clarkson, Helen Hutchinson, Barbara Frum, Pamela Wallin, Ann Medina, Mary Lou Finlay, and Hana Gartner. But nothing on Sandra Gwyn (magazines, books), on Bev Reed (radio documentaries), or on the whole National Film Board, which must be considered part of the media for its film documentaries and investigative reporting. Still, it is a good source book for biographical details and personal experiences about what it is like “out there” in a general sense, applicable to journalism students.