The news industry is still dominated by men. Yet women have exercised leadership in journalism and related media professions in a variety of ways, from moral leadership to experimenting with structural and technological innovations and pioneering new formats to serve new audiences. This book offers a robust account of women’s leadership in journalism, looking at what motivated women to become media leaders, the obstacles they overcame, and the strategies they used to solve problems and handle crises.

This book offers profiles of inspiring women in prominent media positions from the nineteenth century to today, beginning with trailblazers like abolitionist publisher Mary Ann Shadd and Memphis Free Speech anti-lynching editor Ida B. Wells. The book takes an in-depth look at the leadership styles of well-known media moguls like Oprah Winfrey and Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham. Other chapters highlight women now emerging as media leaders, such as digital media executive S. Mitra Kalita and Iman Zawahry, a Muslim hijabi filmmaker. Bringing together cases from print, broadcast, public relations, film, and digital media, this book offers useful insights into how to be an effective leader in an ever-changing industry.