In 1971, Linda Mason ’64 became the first female producer for CBS Evening News. In her decades-long career with CBS, Mason fought for her place in a male-dominated office. Long before her role as an executive producer or a senior vice president, she spoke up for her segment ideas, applied to jobs previously unheld by women and blazed new trails for women in the industry.
Mason recounted her experience as a woman in broadcast journalism in her memoir, “Speak Up: Breaking the Glass Ceiling at CBS News,” published in May.
In the book, she touches on working with Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and Charles Kuralt along with a behind-the-scenes look of her notable coverage. This includes an interview with Fidel Castro in Cuba, coverage of the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre of 1989 and the newscast breaking failed peace talks between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in 1986.
The Herald spoke to Mason about her memoir and experiences at CBS.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Herald: How long has this memoir been brewing?
Linda Mason: It came as a surprise. There was COVID-19 and nobody was doing anything. I started thinking about what I had done (in my lifetime). I was amazed, writing down a little of this, a little of that. And I thought, maybe it will help people.
A friend of mine was good friends with a professor at Sarah Lawrence … I showed her the first bits and pieces, and she said “Linda, this is journalism. It isn’t an autobiography. You have to put yourself in it.” So she helped me find a voice that was part me and part journalism.
What do you want readers and young journalists to take away from the book?
LM: When I applied for a job on the morning news at CBS, the executive producer said he didn’t have the headcount for producers, so I would be called a writer. I took him at his word and said “Fine, that’s how I would get my feet wet.”
I did all the things a producer would do for two years and finally confronted him and asked for the title.
You have to be patient, you have to have an honest appraisal about what you do. You have to volunteer. Your attitude is important … You can’t argue all the time, because people have been in the business longer than you have. You have to be willing to work hard. If you don’t understand an assignment, ask questions. But also be true to yourself. You have to do what you feel is right.
The Evening News did a trend piece on the birth control pill and the freedom (it gave for) people to experience sex the way they wanted. My friend at 23 had a stroke because of the birth control pill. And I thought we ought to do more than just tell it as a sidebar; I thought we should point out the dangers. I went to my boss and told him.
I did two pieces on it because one piece wasn’t enough. Then I had to screen them for my boss, who was a very devout Catholic, who went to Mass every morning. And I was a little tense. And he said, “You didn’t expect me to approve this, did you?” And I said, “No.” And he said, “Well I do.”
The last few decades have brought about massive changes for the news media. Where do you suppose the media is going next?
LM: I grew up in an age where telling the truth, telling the facts, was the important part of the story. There could be two sides, four sides, but you have to get all the facts in. We had analysts, so (it was) not up to the writer to take a position one way or the other.
Today that has changed drastically. If you’re conservative, you watch (certain) networks, read certain papers and vice-versa. It's a pale showing of what it used to be and I miss that, but I think it's going to come back to where it was. The fundamental responsibility of journalism remains the same: Dig out the truth and share it with the public.
In small towns, people rely on the newspaper to tell them what time the garbage is being collected and what their teachers’ pay is, all this stuff that makes the community run. Two thousand papers have closed over the past 20 years, and people are without news. But local people need to know what’s happening in their area. There’s a move of papers coming back to service communities by web, so I’m heartened that there’s going to be a solution at some point.
BDH: You kept Linda Mason as your professional name, but you go by Linda Aminoff at home. In your book, you discuss your work and home life. How did you balance your career with your children and family?
LM: I was the first woman to have a baby in the news department, so I discussed with my bosses what to do, and asked for six months of maternity leave that was allowed to me.
When my older daughter Beth was three, she learned to use the phone, and she would dial me at work. Sometimes I would be in Cronkite’s office, and I said, “Just put her through.” And that way she always knew she could reach me.
A couple times I had to leave in a hurry because my other daughter had some sort of accident at playschool, or I picked my kids up and brought them to the doctor. But I was pretty much defining what a mother could do in that situation. Fortunately I had a great relationship with people I worked with and I was responsible; I completed everything. I had a very supportive husband.
I was defining what worked for me, and it turned out it worked for a lot of people.
You attended Brown from 1960 to 1964. What were some of your favorite experiences from your time here?
LM: I was a very good high school student, (but) I came to Brown and I flunked the English comp test that all the first-years had to take. And here I had been working for a newspaper! I couldn't believe it. So I had to take English at eight in the morning, twice a week.
Brown was just such a wonderful experience. I think it still is. You could do all sorts of crazy things and it counted. I did an independent study on Poland as my thesis, I don't know if I would've done that anywhere else.
I waitressed sometimes at the dining hall. We used to go swimming. I liked the library, the Pembroke Library. The Brown Library was huge. Campus was just beautiful.
What are you up to now, and what are you looking forward to next?
LM: So I just finished a project — this memoir — that became much bigger than I expected it to. So I’m riding it out and seeing what’s next. When you get older, you don’t have to have a plan. It’s different; I’m a different person now. I used to be on some stories, running on three hours of sleep a night. It changes, so you have to enjoy fully where you are at any moment.
Haley Sandlow is a section editor covering science and research as well as admissions and financial aid. She is a junior from Chicago, Illinois, studying English and French.
