Leadership Roles in Publications

In the study conducted about women-led publications versus men-led publications, I was not at all surprised by the results and how each leadership setting was described. Women ran the publication like they run their lives and households using communication, family style and the occasional cattiness. The men ran it like a boys club with little emotion, hardly any drama, and organized hierarchies. What I was most surprised about is the lack of diversity in leadership roles and in any roles in publications accross the country. Typically, the journalist or reporter was a white man in his 40s, but I thought that changed awhile ago. Editor of The Herald Times, Bob Zaltsberg, commented on the topic saying that the male-female ration was normal but there was little ethnic diversity in his office. In fact, for a recent job posting, not one of the applicants was ethnically diverse. Cultural diversity is important to provide different perspectives and expertice in the publication world. It would be interesting to see if diverse people are simply not applying or taking part in the publication business or if they are and just are being over-looked in the hiring process.