The one thing she never wanted to do, Philadelphia Inquirer Editor and Executive Vice President Amanda Bennett told her audience, was be an editor.
But after a rich career as a journalist, Bennett came to appreciate the benefits of both reporting and editing, and last June, became the first woman ever appointed to her position at the Inquirer.
Yesterday, she joined Jane Eisner, a former Inquirer editorial page editor and now a nationally syndicated columnist, for a lecture sharing their wisdom and experiences as female journalists.
The two women, in recounting their personal obstacles and achievements, both concluded that although it is a struggle to be a woman in journalism, sexism and gender discrimination are now the exception, not the rule.
Eisner said it would be misleading to only focus on gender discrimination -- she found throughout her career that men were often willing to take a chance on her. For example, when she was working at the Inquirer, she was offered a foreign appointment in London even though she was married with a young child.
Bennett said that her husband's willingness to be a "Renaissance man" and help take care of the home made her success as a female journalist possible. "Nothing happens in a vacuum," she said.
Philadelphia Business Journal staff writer Larry Rulison said he attended the lecture to check out the competition. But most attended the event, co-hosted by the Fox Leadership Program and the Women in Leadership Series, as eager journalist-hopefuls and admirers of the accomplished women.
"To hear the editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer -- you can't get much more realistic expertise in journalism than that," College senior Natalie Konrad said.
Looking back, both women acknowledged the support they received throughout their careers, but their success did not come without perseverance.
After not writing for her high school newspaper because of a sexist adviser, Eisner made up for lost time at Wesleyan University where she became the first female executive editor of The Wesleyan Argus. After graduating in three and a half years, she quickly landed a job at the Hartford Times, where she got a front page story on her third day.
"It was one of those rare, bizarre experiences. Because the paper was on its last legs, I got to do anything I wanted," Eisner said.
Bennett, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, said her desire to change the world and to have amazing experiences motivated her to become a journalist.
"I wanted to feel what life was like from the inside," she said, recounting such experiences as eating the warm heart of a freshly hunted seal caught with Eskimos, and living in Beijing on a farm.
However, the balancing act of family versus career eventually caught up to both women. Bennett and Eisner gave up reporting to become an editor and columnist, respectively, but neither regret their decision.
As a feminist, Eisner said, "It's all about choice."
With women filling several of the top editor positions at the Inquirer, Bennett and Eisner agreed that much progress has been made.
