Women in communications field
give guidelines for market entry
By Tonnie Dakin
Of thr Kimuld
Women slowly have been
breaking into the field of com
munication. a field once
dominated by men. say women
who are currently involved in
the field.
Barbara Matt, who studied
radio and television journalism
at the University, has been a
reporter and news anchor at
KVAL for six years and has seen
the competition in her field stif
fen over the years, she said.
In the last few decades the
field of television news expand
ed. and many jobs became
available to women because of
affirmative action, she said.
But a few years ago the media
felt the impact of a bad
economy, and there were hiring
freezes, making it difficult to
get a job or move upward in the
field. Matt said.
"As a result of that. . . it’s got
ten very competitive; not just in
the Northwest, but all over the
country,” she said.
In order to ensure job stabili
ty, television news anchors tend
to stay on the air longer and
don't try to move to higher posi
tions. Matt said. This creates a
freeze in the number of posi
tions open, especially to
women, she said.
"Women started out behind
the eight-ball anyway, and this
did not help,” Matt said.
There has been little progress
in the number of women who
are on-the-air network cor
respondents, Matt said. Only
17.8 percent of these jobs were
held by women in 1979. and in
1985 the number remained the
same, she said.
The outlook for women in the
field of public relations is dif
ferent, said K.|. Kent, who
received her bachelor's degree
in English from the University
and now does promotional and
marketing work at the Eugene
Hilton. Currently. 55 percent of
the employees in the industry
are women, and 27 percent of
the top jobs in the field are held
by women, she said.
Working in public relations
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Kent said.
"The high visibility allows
you to get into the net
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ty to get involved with the
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you an overview if you ever
decide to change your field.”
she said.
The job outlook for public
relations in the hospitality in
dustry — working in hotels and
motels — is also good, although
the outlook in Eugene is bleak,
she said.
It is advisable to go to a bigger
market where the turnover is
higher and there is a better
chance to break into the field,
she said.
This also holds true in the
field of television news. Matt
said.
“Unfortunately, the way it
still works is if you want to
make more money and you
want to get more experience,
you have to move on to a bigger
market." she said.
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Although women am slowly
making progress in television
news. Matt believes that
valuable changes could be made
in the newsroom if women ap
plied for more powerful posi
tions such as that of news direc
tor, she said.
"I happen to believe that a
woman's place is in the news
director's office." Matt said.
"But unfortunately, not very
many are."
While the position may not
seem as glamorous as others in
the newsroom, the decision
making and the power that
comes with the job can help
make important changes. Matt
said.
“You really can shape what
happens on a newscast. .. not
only for you but for the other
people there." she said
Uurrn kessler, an associate
professor in the journalism
school, believes it is hard to
make generalizations about
what would happen if women
had mom power in the field of
communications, she said.
"I think that people in
terested in careers, be they
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