Barbara Haddad Ryan: Progress in newsroom

Jim Jenkins’ Nov. 19 column “More than just the building ...” was an engaging guide down memory lane inspired by the sale of The N&O’s current home.

He described the newsroom of 40 years ago as “full of raucous, profane, disheveled, chain-smoking, intense, smart and righteous people.” The accompanying photo, from 1960, resembled the scene that greeted me when I joined The Denver Post two years later.

What struck me at both places was the “uniform”: an expanse of white shirts and neckties. Not a skirt in sight. Maybe The N&O newsroom, like The Denver Post’s, had a couple of token women tucked away in the corners. Or maybe not.

It wasn’t until female baby boomers started pounding on the gates that the “people” Jenkins wrote about became she as well as he. I like the newsroom photo from 1978 better.

This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Barbara Haddad Ryan: Progress in newsroom."