She has, she acknowledges, one of the most glamorous jobs in television. But even Joan Lunden-cohost of ABC`s ”Good Morning America” and currently on maternity leave-complains, like many other women in the workforce, of lower pay and lower status. In her book, ”Good Morning, I`m Joan Lunden,” recently published in paperback (Berkley, $3.95), Lunden charts her course from modeling school instructor to interviewer of such international figures as Henry Kissinger and Prince Charles. In this excerpt, she describes how she came to publicly air her discontent with her unequal treatment in broadcasting and how, heeding the advice of one of television journalism`s female pioneers, she began a campaign to end her ”second banana” status.
Those who say that sticks and stones break bones but words never hurt either lack a bit of humanity and sensitivity or have managed to grow thicker skins than I have.
And when it comes to the role of women on television, my skin is still extremely thin. For despite all the real progress women have made in every area of professional life in the last 10 years, women`s gains in television, with some notable exceptions, have not been as great as we`d hoped.
Yes, there are more women in the newsrooms, in management positions, there are women producers and directors, there are women behind and in front of the cameras, but an attitude continues to prevail in the business. That attitude is that women (and minorities) are second-class citizens.
In my job, one of the most glamorous in all of television, I quite often feel like the window dressing the critics sometimes accuse me of being. I don`t think it`s been a conscious decision on the part of management; it`s just part of a prevailing attitude in the business.
In fact, this was the subject of a Phil Donahue show on which I appeared. Going on ”Donahue” causes sweaty palms because you don`t get asked to appear with him to talk about knitting. The topics are usually controversial. The show I did with seven other prominent women in television was no exception.
The eight of us met in the green room before the show: Rita Flynn of Chronicle Broadcasting, a longtime network correspondent who is always outspoken on the subject of women`s rights; ABC network correspondent Carol Simpson, who has been a leader in the fight for equality for women at ABC News; Mary Alice Williams of CNN, one of the few female vice-presidents in the industry; Lesley Stahl, White House correspondent for CBS; and the morning anchors, Jane Pauley of NBC, Maria Shriver of CBS, Connie Chung of NBC; and me. Surprisingly, this was the first meeting for most of us, even though we are often thought of and even written about collectively as if we knew each other. There was a lot of electricity in the room. We were all joking about having to look for a new job because of something we might say but we were only half kidding. And we were all a touch nervous. You might find that surprising since as professionals we`re used to appearing in front of the camera. But in this kind of situation, when you`re being asked the questions, and tough ones at that, you worry a bit.
When the show started, I felt we were all weighing our words carefully. Then, when things got warmed up, I found myself pinned against the wall when a person in the audience asked what I thought was the biggest difference between men and women in our industry. I answered without hesitation, ”Salaries.” My answer got a round of applause but that question prompted another more sensitive one. A woman asked how I felt about my role on GMA being secondary and even subservient to David`s (Hartman) role.
”I`ll be honest with you,” I said. ”I`m not always content with my status or my assignments but I knew the nature of the job when I took it. I also knew that it was one of the best jobs in televison.”
Actually that question came as no big surprise. I`m asked about my role in almost every interview I do, and over the years I`ve come to view that role as two-pronged. First, I`m paid to go out there every weekday morning and vibrantly wake up America with a smile. Second, I have to field these types of questions from the press and the public and present a good image for GMA.
Deep down, what am I feeling as I play these dual roles? Well, quite frankly, it`s not always easy to put on a happy face, or face up to these questions. The inequities are there, and the feeling of being a second-class citizen is always there as well. And let`s face it, that feels really bad.
A good case in point. Until recently GMA was always managed by male executives. When one of them would come into the studio in the morning, he might give me a nod of the head but would then walk briskly over to David. The executive would talk with him and then they`d all go to the green room together, as friendly as clams. I attributed this behavior to one of those men`s club things.
But when the day came that a female executive was put in charge of the show, I`m here to tell you that she did exactly the same thing. After a brief hello she walked by me as though I didn`t exist. Now it`s clear to me that the executives gravitate to the person with the power and control. This was rather disappointing somehow, because I had expected more.
But back to the Donahue program for a moment. It was a very positive experience for me personally and professionally, despite my trepidation going in. For months afterward, people stopped me everywhere to tell me they had liked the way I handled myself and what I had said about not being blind to the inequities but knowing how to live and grow with them.
I said that my job is glamorous and well-paying and loaded with perks. But on the opposite side of the coin is the ”fluff,” and like every other woman on television I have had to put up with more than my share of fluff stories-the for-women-only stories, the throwaways and the pieces that get cut when time is a little short.
I refer to these stories with the collective name ”Dog Hero of the Year,” which is not to denigrate the animal world, only to characterize the type of story that usually falls to women. I`ve interviewed the real ”Dog Hero of the Year” every year for as far back as I can remember. I`ve also interviewed a variety of other animals, including the cat who won the ”meow- off” contest, an alligator, a baby tiger, an ape, an eagle and many less daunting two- and four-footed creatures. These animal stories and others-the fashion stories and the weepers-fall to me and other women on both national and local TV.
These examples constitute some of the fluff as I see it, and they seem to be as unavoidable as the issue of equal pay for equal work. When we female TV personalities take a look at our paychecks, even though they are substantial, we know that our checks are anywhere from one-fourth to one-half as large as those of our male coworkers. It makes you begin to wonder when a woman in television, or elsewhere, is going to be paid what the job is worth.
Not long ago I was asked to speak to a group of bankers. I decided to use one of my favorite jokes, which rather clearly illustrates the reality of unequal pay for equal work.
When I reached the part in my speech in which I was talking about the inequality of women in the workplace, I said, ”I want to ask all of you a question. Do you know why God gave women breasts?” As they looked up with keen anticipation, I said, ”So bosses would know whom to give the smaller paychecks to.”
It broke them up and I think I made my point.
Barbara Walters and I have talked about this situation a number of times. She, of course, is, or was, the highest paid woman on television, and though I don`t know exactly what she earns today, the newspapers have reported her salary in the neighborhood of $1 million a year. Barbara knows whereof she speaks. She came up in the business when there were only a handful of women on camera and she became a cohost of ”Today” in its infancy. There is no doubt that she made it possible for other women to move into the morning shows and to get a wide variety of other on-camera and off-camera jobs in the industry. I also happen to think that she opened the way for women in other fields as well, but that isn`t quite as obvious. At any rate she has been a trailblazer. Over the years she has been supportive of me and I have learned many good lessons from her. Barbara told me some time ago that whether it`s money or stories you`ve been shorted on, you do yourself a disservice if you get angry about what you didn`t get. Her advice is to work harder, to hone and polish each little bit you are given until you make it a gem. She also told me not to wait to be given anything but instead to make myself invaluable. In other words, make your own success happen. I`ve taken her words to heart in the last few years. I think that my hard work, doing my homework and more, has paid off and that my role on GMA reflects that hard work.
Translating Barbara Walters` ideas of independence into reality has meant a lot of hard work and a lot of personal sacrifice over the last several years. But my heavy work schedule is beginning to pay off in a career which seems to be ever-expanding. It has given me an incredible sense of self-confidence and self-satisfaction and I think it`s safe to say that I would not have gotten this from my role on GMA alone.
I now have a career that does not depend solely on the whims of one show`s management. I think my self-confident attitude actually improves my performance on GMA, and though ABC may not always appreciate my feelings of independence, I think they do realize that my new image as an expert on parenting and host of my own show (”Mother`s Day” on the Lifetime cable channel) only serves to enhance my on-air presence and their program.
