Staffers Say Sexism Runs Deep At The Washington Post

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/women-washington-post-sexism-culture_n_5e34b8a3c5b611ac94d4aa89

"The Washington Post doesn’t value women and men in the same way, these people said. This appears literally true when it comes to pay: Women in the newsroom are paid less than men, according to a report published last year by the union that represents employees.

The disparity courses through the culture and is borne out in the paper’s coverage, where stories of sexual harassment have sometimes been held to a higher standard than other coverage, some staffers said. 


Crucially, the gender imbalance is clear in the masthead. Three of the four top editors at the Post are men. Only four of 17 department heads are women.

Pay isn’t just a contractor problem. Women in the Post newsroom are collectively paid less than men, according to the union’s report, which examined salaries among about 500 members in the newsroom. The salaried men in the newsroom earn a median of $116,065 a year. 

The median for women is $95,595. The gap is widest for staffers under 40: Young men earn $95,890 compared to $84,030 for women. The report used age as a proxy for experience, which it did not expressly track.


Men also receive a higher percentage of merit-based pay raises. The union found a racial pay gap as well: The median pay for women of color is $30,000 less than it is for white men. "