Powerful profiles of two Canadian women

I have to admit that I still read the Globe and Mail like a newspaper, even when I’m online.
This is unfortunate because I often miss good stuff in other formats.

Weeks after the Globe and Mail’s series on women in power, I’m just starting to check out the videos that complement the articles.

Two profile pieces really stood out for me. Not only are they beautifully shot, they feature inspirational women at very different times in their lives.

The veteran, Phyllis Yaffe, is thoughtful, well-spoken, and unbelievably accomplished. She asks young women not to take progress for granted, and to keep pushing because we’re not quite there.

Her video can be viewed here.

Phyllis Yaffe at her desk. Screen capture from the Globe and Mail.

The neophyte, Manjit Minhas, seems approachable and humble, although she is incredibly ambitious. She’s still in her twenties, and actually started her successful beer brewing company at the age of 19. She’s also the mother of a toddler.

Her video can be viewed here.

Manjit Minhas in action. Screen capture from the Globe and Mail's website.

AGH! Shame on me. I almost ended this post without giving props to a third incredible woman, Tory Zimmerman, who brings the eye of an artist to her work. She shot and edited both these pieces, and did a fantastic job of it.

The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power.  You just take it.  ~Roseanne Barr

The women of the Toronto Star radio room

Teri Pecoskie

Madeleine White

Lauren O’Neil

Alex Hering

Gloria Er Chua

Fabiola Carletti

We’ve introduced ourselves on the Toronto Star intern blog.

According to Roger Gillespie–senior editor, training and development–the post has been attracting lots of traffic from both twitter and facebook.

In a profession that used to be an old boy’s club, this set of fresh faces does indicate that something big is (and has been) changing in journalism. At the face of things, I’m very proud . . . but I do want to make something clear.

All of these amazing female journalists are much more than pretty young faces. We’re coming up through the system, and we’re getting ready to claim more corner offices.

As the following video illustrates, this progress isn’t something to be taken for granted. The narrator mentions news women about 5:00 minutes in, but quickly notes that they basically stick to the women’s pages, writing about household tips and social events: “Women find it difficult to compete with men in general reporting jobs.”

(Although I have no interest in the attractive arrangement of a table, I’d make a stronger case for reporters who work the phones.)

Yogurt! The Official Food of Women!

Crack open your creamy companion and savour the satire:

Now, there’s no way that I can keep you as entertained as Sarah Haskins can, but if we get serious for a moment, this probiotic party line may actually be full of it.

In a recent article for the guardian, Felicity Lawrence points out that we may need to slurp on a little reality. Sure, we can snicker at 19^th century cereal slogans that promise to make our blood redder and cure malaria—‘cause we know those are silly sales pitches—but then maybe we should ask ourselves if we’re buying in to “the ludicrously exaggerated” modern day equivalents.

While gliding through the grocery aisles, I’m sure many of us stop at the functional health foods that promise to move us and improve us, but as the industry winks with approval, more objective bodies–like the European Food Safety Authority–are not impressed.