MEDIA: read all about her

Katharine Viner, deputy editor, The Guardian

As deputy editor of the Guardian, Katharine Viner is one of the most senior women in newspaper journalism. Her responsibilities include editing the Saturday edition, which, since she took up her role in 2008, is acknowledged to be the driving force behind the paper’s six-day sales.

‘I feel a challenge each Saturday to grab every single reader we can,’ says 38-year-old Viner. The 2010 general election should make this easier. ‘Newspapers can help make sense of elections, but it would be arrogant to think we play a bigger role,’ she says.

Politics aren’t Viner’s only passion. ‘My role is to know about the Middle East and fashion, and everything in-between,’ she says. ‘I really feel like I’m in the right job for me.’

Viner mentors younger colleagues and passionately promotes flexible working for women with children. ‘Until recently, in the Guardian building, there was one woman over 55, and 30 or 40 men of the same age,’ she says. ‘If you can keep women in a decent role through the first 10 years of their childcare, then you’ve got them.’

Newsrooms don’t have a reputation for being female-friendly places. ‘Women can absolutely speak up and argue their view, but I think men have set the form for how it happens.’ All the more reason to celebrate and encourage more women like Viner at the top.

What the judges said:
Sam Baker: ‘Katharine is making women’s voices heard far beyond the traditional “women’s pages”. Not only that, but she’s fostered a women-friendly workplace in a male-dominated world.’

Karen Mattison: ‘We chose Katharine because not only would she inspire readers, but she’s thought about the needs of other women as she’s climbed her own career ladder.’