How women media executives are changing the future of the news industry

– Read all about it. Fortune’s 2023 Most Powerful Women Summit wrapped up yesterday, and, as always, I’m in awe of the breadth of conversations my colleagues are striking with the impressive lineup of speakers and guests.

There was no shortage of thought-provoking discussions, from how AI is changing our world with executives from Anthropic and Google, to leadership lessons with Ariel Investments co-CEO Mellody Hobson, to the state of women in Hollywood with actress and activist Connie Britton.

But one of my favorite discussions came near the end of the conference, when Meredith Kopit Levien, president and CEO of the New York Times Company, and Sonal Shah, CEO of the Texas Tribune, discussed the importance of diversity and inclusion in—as well as the ever-changing nature of—the news business, with Fortune’s Ruth Umoh.

I’m biased, of course, but it was an important reminder of what journalism can be at its best: Focused on providing accurate and important context and details on the major events of the day, and representative of the myriad experiences and viewpoints of readers and consumers.

Levien noted that when she started at the Times a decade ago, she was one of the only female leaders at one of the world’s most prestigious news outlets (Jill Abramson was executive editor on the editorial side at the time). Now, she’s one of many across the newsroom. That experience has informed “the religion I have of why no one should ever be an only,” she said. 

“It is incumbent on every leader at every organization, and maybe especially news organizations, to see that the whole team, top to bottom, reflects the diversity of lived experience—race, gender, ideology—of the world around them,” she said.

“The newsroom…needs to be reflective of the audience,” added the Texas Tribune‘s Shah. She also emphasized the importance of adapting to new mediums and meeting readers or viewers where they are. 

“A journalist is no longer just writing an 800-word story,” she said. “They’re thinking about TikTok, they’re thinking about going on TV…We have to be way more agile than we ever have been before.” 

We are all likely familiar with the challenges media outlets must contend with. Full-time newsroom jobs have fallen by almost 30% compared to 2008, leaving fewer people to produce more stories, especially at the local level. Consumers often expect instantaneous answers “in the palm of their hand,” as Shah put it, and can be siloed in their own echo chambers. Meanwhile, one tweak of the Facebook or Google algorithm can tank an outlet’s web traffic. Trust remains near a record low.

Amid this turmoil, women now lead some of the most vital news organizations in the U.S., including, ABC News, MSNBC, NBC News, CBS News, Fox News, The New York Times Company, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and, yes, Fortune (that makes the U.S. an outlier in terms of representation).

They can’t solve every problem, but as Levien and Shah discussed, their point of view is imperative to reach the most people possible—particularly those whose perspective has been historically overlooked or dismissed. 

“I don’t think you can be a news organization endeavoring…to be at our best if we are not as diverse as the population to whom we are trying to give understanding,” said Levien. “Hard stop.”

Alicia Adamczyk
alicia.adamczyk@fortune.com
@AliciaAdamczyk

The Broadsheet is Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Today’s edition was curated by Joseph Abrams. Subscribe here.

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PARTING WORDS

"Tight hugs, teary screams, holding my kids in the spring sunshine. Trees shimmy from the breeze. I can see the entirety of the sky now!"

—Australian journalist Cheng Lei's first public comments after returning home from Chinese prison yesterday. China detained Lei in August 2020 and claims she pled guilty for sharing state secrets abroad.