By Theunis Bates, Editor at LinkedIn News
With the ouster of CNN chairman and CEO Chris Licht — and the appointment of VPs Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley and Eric Sherling as his interim replacements — all major U.S. news organizations are now led by women, Fortune reports. At the networks, women now hold the top jobs at ABC News (Kimberly Godwin), NBC News (Rebecca Blumenstein) and Fox News (Suzanne Scott). The New York Times has a woman CEO (Meredith Kopit Levien), while The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal both have female editors-in-chief (Sally Buzbee and Emma Tucker, respectively.)
- Women hold 44% of the top editorial positions in the U.S., according to a recent Oxford University study. Worldwide, that number stands at 22%.
Every major U.S. news organization is now officially helmed by a woman
fortune.com
By JANE THIER
Reporter at Fortune
CNN announced Wednesday that its chairman and CEO Chris Licht is departing after one tumultuous year. While searching for a replacement, the media conglomerate will be led by a trio of company veterans: Amy Entelis, its executive vice president of talent and content development; Virginia Moseley, its executive vice president of editorial; and Eric Sherling, executive vice president of U.S. programming.
With a two-thirds female leadership triad, CNN joins every other major U.S. news organization as being woman-led. The presidents of all major networks are women; Kimberly Godwin helms ABC News, Rashida Jones heads MSNBC, Rebecca Blumenstein leads NBC News, Wendy McMahon leads CBS News, and Suzanne Scott leads Fox News Media.
The tides have long been turning in the media. The New York Times’ CEO is a woman (Meredith Kopit Levien), and women are currently editors-in-chief at The Washington Post (Sally Buzbee), the The Wall Street Journal (Emma Tucker), Reuters (Alessandra Galloni), McClatchy (Robyn Tomlin), and, yes, Fortune (Alyson Shontell).
But work still remains. Just 22% of the top editors at major news outlets worldwide are women, a recent University of Oxford study found, despite the fact that 40% of journalists in the 12 major news markets are women. The U.S. is much better than the average; 44% of top editors here are women. Plus, for the first time ever, over 10% of the Fortune 500 are run by female CEOs.
By ANN MEYERS PICCIRILLO
Sr. Vice President at JDA TSG
We must take pause. The announcement that Amy Entelis and Virginia Moseley will lead CNN results in a most notable milestone: all major U.S. news networks are now led or co-led by women. Besides CNN’s new leaders, there’s Kimberly Godwin at ABC News, Rashida Jones at MSNBC, Rebecca Blumenstein at NBC News, Wendy McMahon at CBS News, and Suzanne Scott at Fox News. Add to this New York Times CEO Meredith Kopit Levien, Washington Post editor-in-chief Sally Buzbee, and Wall Street Journal editor Emma Tucker. News media is an industry with influence beyond its size. These CEOs and presidents are not Fortune 500 leaders, but their decisions shape the public’s understanding of the world we live in every day. #womeninleadership #milestoneachievement #ceo #leaders