Journalist Palki Sharma Talks About Sexism In Newsroom

Sexism exists in all forms in all places of the society, whether its home or work. Throwing light on how sexism prevails in the newsroom and the field of journalism, journalist Palki Sharma recently expressed her experiences in a podcast. Palki Sharma as a news anchor, designer and writer has worked for over two decades.

Journalist Palki Sharma On Sexism

"A lot of these rules apply only to women. We are ">supposed to look a certain way....If we are too soft and smile too much then we are diffident. If we are too aggressive, then we are rude. There's never a good fit. I think over the past few years, one by one, I've thrown all the rules out of the window. I want to wear jhumkas with a jacket, I will wear it. You don't like it, don't watch it." said Sharma talking about how women journalists face sexism in newsroom.

She continued to tell her own experiences and said, "There was a situation when I was told to take somebody off air because of weight.......I remember when I was expecting my first child and I, you know, told my boss about it, I was told, "But you have to come back in shape quickly" and the congratulations followed later. And he was not a mean person but it just, this is how they are programmed."

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She talked about #MeToo and how she left a media company because it had welcomed a #MeToo accused senior back to work. Talking about whether such people change, she said, "I don't know and I don't think it matters. You have wronged so many people and why should you get of the doubt now? That is one and second, I don't think they change fundamentally."

She further goes, "This person you're talking about, someone told me that she was his subordinate in a newspaper and she went to him and said that, "This is my script" and he said, "Your lines have to be tighter than your jeans" and you get away with it. How do you get away with that? And what do you do to the confidence of that girl? And we let them be and we give them space because a lot of us don't want to be branded as trouble."

"About 15 years back, I went to the studio after a big interview had just finished with a very prominent minister and the studio had different sets so I had to do the news from another set. And the editor is asking the minister, "Would you like tea or coffee?" He's not replying because he is staring. And it was a big newsroom and he kept staring and I felt violated, without him having said anything, without him having done anything. How do you quantify that and what do you say? That he was looking at me? But you feel terrible", added Sharma.

Who Is Palki Sharma?

Born in May 1982 in Rajasthan's Pilani, Palki Sharma completed her schooling from Loreto Convent, Shimla. She went to Jaipur, Rajasthan's ICG Institute for Educational Research & Development to attain her master's degree in the field of Communication and Journalism. She is also a Certified C1 French Learner from Delhi's Alliance Francaise de.

Her journalism journey began in 2004 when she joined Hindustan Times as a Staff writer and went on to become one of the most renowned news anchor and news show host. She worked for a renowned Indian news channel for a very long time and recently resigned as its Executive Editor in September 2022. Later, Sharma joined another media company as a managing editor. Her resignation became controversial as her previous media company filed a case to prevent her from working at any other media company.