By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Veteran journalist Leela Menon, who was the first woman in the state to join the profession, Sunday opined that women in Indian media are yet to break the glass ceiling.
“One or two Barkha Dutts are not enough and those women who are at the top are only so by virtue of their family owning the organisation. This clearly shows that the others are being discriminated against,” she said.
Menon, 85, who was with the Express group for a long time, now edits the Bharatiya Janata Party mouthpiece “Janmabhoomi” here.
Delivering the keynote address in a seminar here on ‘Women and Media’ on the occasion of the National Press Day, she said that an international survey showed that 38 per cent of the journalists are women but things are different in India where they are being sidelined.
“I had to literally fight it out to get into reporting and it was through a story on a liquor tragedy that I got into general reporting and proved that women can also do good stories,” added Menon.
Recalling her era and comparing it with the conditions faced by present day women journalists, she said in today’s world journalism is easy and also urged them to desist from sensationalism and instead concentrate on sensitivity.
She also was critical of the manner in which women are being seen as objects.
“You should all discuss such things and see that women are empowered,” asked Menon.