If you look at the list of producers and showhosts at WUWM, with just a couple of exceptions, it consists of nearly all women. While the demographic breakdown varies from newsroom to newsroom, women do make up a large percentage of journalists working in the broadcast industry today.
That was most certainly not the case when Mary-Ann Bendel was coming out of Marquette University trying to break into broadcast journalism. It was the late 1950s, and Bendel was met with a great deal of opposition as she tried to make her way in, what was, a very male world of journalism.
However, persistence paid off and Bendel eventually went on to a storied career that lasted decades and included time working at CBS, Entertainment Tonight and USA Today.
Bendel is back in Milwaukee to receive an Alumni National Award from her alma mater over the weekend. She stopped by Lake Effect to talk about her notable career.
When it comes to whether she sees herself as a trailblazer, Bendel says, "I didn't at the time, I was just trying to find work."
