Hella Pick

Issues faced by female journalists, including online abuse and barriers to career progress, were discussed at an event supported by the University of Sussex in celebration of former Guardian journalist Hella Pick CBE.

Hella, whose career as a foreign correspondent for the Guardian newspaper spanned more than 30 years, told the packed audience at the Austrian Ambassador’s Residence in London (12 October) for the first Hella Pick Lecture, entitled ‘Women in Journalism’, that she was full of admiration for women who were now reporting from war zones and taking on senior roles.

In introducing Hella, Daniel Franklin, executive editor of The Economist, praised her for her memoir, Invisible Walls, A journalist in search of her life, in which she describes her childhood as an Austrian-Jewish refugee arriving in England at the age of 11 in 1939 on the Kindertransport, and her remarkable career that incorporated winning the trust of world leaders and reporting on momentous events, from the assassination of President Kennedy to the collapse of communism.

Hella’s career since leaving the Guardian has involved working for the Advisory Board of the Sussex Weidenfeld Institute of Jewish Studies, which incorporates the University of Sussex’s Centre for German-Jewish Studies. This lecture was the first in a planned series of lectures and was organised by the Sussex Weidenfeld Institute of Jewish Studies at the University of Sussex, and the Austrian Cultural Forum.

A panel of female journalists and academics, who included Katrin Steffen (University of Sussex, DAAD Professor of European History and Jewish History), Suzanne Franks (former BBC journalist and former head of journalism at City University), Katja Hoyer (journalist and historian), and Katinka Nowotny (Austrian broadcast journalist), lauded Hella for her trail-blazing professionalism.

In responding to the question of issues that female journalists currently face, the panel, agreed that even though more women than men have always entered journalism, few still reach the upper echelons.

Suzanne spoke about the “huge barrage” of online abuse women writers and broadcasters experienced. She also highlighted the lack of diversity in newsrooms – especially of ethnicity and social class – and how this affected news coverage. “Newsrooms are overwhelmingly middle-class,” she said. 

Broader issues, such as how AI would affect journalism, and how social media was muddying readers’ abilities to differentiate between fact and fiction, were also touched upon.

In expressing a concern for a growing lack of objectivity and professionalism in the media, Katinka said: “We are not activists, we are journalists.”

On a more positive note, the panel also discussed how female journalists were drawn to revealing the human side of stories, with female war correspondents frequently focusing on civilian suffering as well as the big geopolitical angles.

University of Sussex’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Sasha Roseneil gave the closing address and said it was a great honour for Sussex to be partnering with the Austrian Cultural Forum at the Austrian Ambassador’s Residence for the First Hella Pick lecture. 

She commented: “Social media has stopped us turning to serious comment and analysis. To be able to turn to trusted journalists on the questions of the moment is really important.” 

Hella finished with a few words: “I just want to say thank you. I have been showered with compliments that I don’t deserve, but I have really enjoyed listening to this discussion.”

She added: “Journalism is hugely important, but consumption is falling. So much information comes from those reliant on social media. Journalists have to be able to capture the trust, not just of consumers and readers, but also of the people they write about. For me, that’s hugely important.”