Pulitzer Prize winner Amanda Bennett to speak on role of women in journalism

When she began working at the Wall Street Journal , Amanda Bennett had 10 female colleagues.

But Bennett, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former executive editor of projects and investigations for Bloomberg News , said she has witnessed a big change in the role of women in the business journalism industry in the past 20 years. There are now a substantial number of women at mid-level positions, but top-level management is still dominated by men, she said.

Bennett will deliver a lecture today as part of the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s Women in Media Leadership Series.

Her speech will be directed to both genders, as she hopes to encourage attendees in their pursuit of journalistic careers.

“What they think they can do is never as great as what they can really do. They are not ambitious enough,” Bennett said of students.

Chris Roush , senior associate dean of undergraduate studies for the journalism school, said journalism students have a lot to learn from Bennett.

“The message is Amanda is a very successful journalist, and we want our students to emulate her,” Roush said.

Bennett has served as an editor and reporter at several news outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, the Philadelphia Inquirer and Bloomberg and is the author of six books.

A cum laude graduate of Harvard University and an award-winning journalist, Bennett has much to take pride in.

“One thing that I am proud of is that I am able to either myself create journalism or help people to create journalism,” she said.

Bennett has covered a variety of international topics as a journalist. She said she once used public data to track down the transfer of wealth among Chinese officials in Beijing.

At another point in her career, she worked to raise public awareness of the complexity of the U.S. health care system when writing about her late husband’s cancer.

“I consider that as a contribution,” she said. “In all these areas to make an impact and help people.”

Journalism professor Rhonda Gibson said it would be a great opportunity to see all types of successful women media professionals and in various stages of their careers.

“If I were a student, I would eat that up.”

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