God designed women to run newsrooms, says Kalli Purie

Kalli Purie was awarded FICCI Young Woman Achiever for excellence in media. Photo Courtesy: Twitter/FippWorld

Women have been assigned many roles in this society--the role of a daughter, a mother, a wife, a sister, among several others. But time and again all these roles turned out to be that of a nurturer and caregiver.

However, that's not all there's to a woman. She is much more than the gender roles that she has been assigned to.

And Kalli Purie, India Today Group Editorial Director for Broadcast and New Media, in her speech while accepting the FICCI Young Woman Achiever for excellence in media award, emphasized on the same. But she also gave us the reason why women were brought into this world. Purie said that God created women to run newsrooms.

"I want to share with you a conclusion, which I think will be popular with at least half of this room. God designed women to run newsrooms," she said during her speech.

Purie, who received the  award from Union Minster Smriti Irani, even went on to explain that there are some basic things one needs to successfully run a newsroom.  And hint: they are not at all related to one's academic achievements. These are basic qualities or traits that makes one a good news hunter.

Also read: India Today Woman Summit 2017: Women live in conflict, says Kalli Purie

"To lead a newsroom, you need a couple things. One, you need IQ to get the facts, but you need instinct. Instinct to follow the story and ask the right questions, instinct to know who is the right newsmaker. Two, the ability to multi-task--news never goes according to plan. You have to be firing at all fronts," she added.

Believe it or not, Purie is in fact right. Women were born to run newsrooms, because they do it much better. Take her example for that matter. She started her career in 1996 in India and worked in various roles, spanning print television and digital. She now plays a leadership role in the company for transferring the equity built in conventional brands into the digital space and steers the editorial of the India Today Television with 3 others of the network.

But how many women do actually get to be in the top positions? We can't deny the fact that there are hardly many women because women are still not paid the money they deserve, let alone given the right opportunities.

Also read: If you thought wage gap was a myth, think again. Survey reveals Indian women earn 25% of what men earn

In fact, a survey last month had revealed that Indian women earn 25% of what men earn. The survey conducted by Monster India found that men earn a median gross hourly salary of Rs 345.80, while for women it is only mere Rs 259.8.

We are hoping that world acknowledges women for their worth, especially media houses.