Thread by @NewsLitProject

THREAD: During #WomensHistoryMonth, we will share stories of influential female journalists & women-led news media throughout U.S. history.

We begin in the mid-1800s with Mary Ann Shadd Cary literaryladiesguide.com/author-biograp…

Shadd Cary launched an abolitionist newspaper in Windsor, Ontario, just across the border from the U.S., which had many readers in the states. Later, she returned to the U.S. to become the 2nd Black woman attorney & fight for women's suffrage.

#WomensHistoryMonth2021

Nellie Bly took on investigative journalism before it even had the name. In the late 1800s, Bly pretended to be mentally ill to gain admittance to an institution in NYC, took detailed notes during her 10 days there, & exposed its many failings. womenshistory.org/education-reso…

Bly's reporting led to reform at the institution on Blackwell's Island (now known as Roosevelt Island), gave a voice to the voiceless, & set an example for investigative journalists. She's featured in our Checkology® lesson "Democracy's Watchdog" bit.ly/DemocracysWatc…

Ida Tarbell was a magazine reporter who wrote a groundbreaking 19-part series on John D. Rockefeller Sr., "The History of the Standard Oil Company." Nearly a century later, it was ranked No. 5 among the top 100 works of 20th century American journalism. pbs.org/wgbh/americane…

In 1939, Time magazine called Dorothy Thompson “undoubtedly the most influential woman in America” after first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Thompson was a writer & radio broadcaster who tirelessly educated the American public about the threat of Nazism. exhibitions.ushmm.org/americans-and-…

One of Dorothea Lange's favorite sayings was, "A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera." During the Great Depression, the portrait photographer's work gave Americans, & the world, images of the era's impact on people. npr.org/templates/stor…
#WomenJournalists

Margaret Bourke-White was one of the most respected photojournalists of the 1930s & '40s. Working for Fortune & then Life magazines, she captured WWII turmoil in Europe through photo essays & accompanied Air Corps crews on bombing missions. icp.org/browse/archive…
#IWD2021

Homai Vyarawalla, India's first woman press photographer, chronicled life in the country during the period when India gained independence from Britain. Self-taught, she was able to get close to leaders such as Gandhi & documented life on the street also. theprint.in/theprint-profi…

Evelyn Cunningham was a reporter, columnist & editor for the Pittsburgh Courier. She wrote about social issues & civil rights, & went on to host her own radio show. Cunningham later worked for Nelson Rockefeller & served on several government commissions.
thehistorymakers.org/biography/evel…

Marguerite Higgins won a Pulitzer Prize in international reporting in 1951 for her coverage of the Korean War for the New York Herald Tribune, despite the paper's senior correspondent threatening her with termination if she didn't leave. pulitzer.org/article/margue…
@PulitzerPrizes

Dickey Chapelle was a fearless war correspondent who photographed the frontlines of multiple conflicts, including the Vietnam War, like no woman had before. She ventured where other reporters wouldn't & won the George Polk Memorial Award for her work. nationalgeographic.com/culture/articl…

Nancy Hicks was a strong believer that newsrooms should reflect their communities. After owning the Oakland Tribune for nearly a decade, she, her husband & others co-founded the Institute for Journalism Excellence, now the @MaynardInst stanfordmag.org/contents/the-t…
#WomensHistoryMonth

Barbara Walters, well known for her probing interviewing style, set many firsts for women in TV journalism early in her long career — becoming co-host of NBC's "Today Show" in the 1970s & then a co-anchor on "ABC Evening News." nbcnews.com/nightly-news/t…
#WomensHistoryMonth

“If you want to understand what’s happened in Latin America over the last 30 years, if you want to feel what it was like or see what it has to do with you, you simply have to read Alma Guillermoprieto." Read this @IWMF profile of a brave, skilled writer: iwmf.org/community/alma…

Linda Ellerbee's long career included anchoring & writing for "NBC News Overnight" — "possibly the best-written & most intelligent news program ever," according to the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards — & producing a @Nickelodeon show for kids. usatoday.com/story/life/tv/…

Gloria Steinem is a pioneering journalist & women's rights activist. She began her career as a freelancer in New York, helped found New York magazine, & then co-founded @MsMagazine. In 2013, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. womenshistory.org/education-reso…
#WomenJournalists

Gwen Ifill covered the biggest stories in America over a trailblazing, award-winning career up until her death in 2016. She was the first Black woman to host a national political talk show on TV as moderator of "Washington Week." pbs.org/weta/washingto…
#WomensHistoryMonth

After her death, we named our student of the year award after Ifill to commemorate the longtime NLP supporter & board member. The award is presented to female students of color who represent the values Ifill brought to journalism. Last year's recipient: newslit.org/updates/florid…

Sharon Farmer made history as the first woman and first Black person to be named the White House director of photography in 1999 after six years of taking photos for the Clinton administration. prospect.org/culture/campus…

#WomensHistoryMonth
#WomenJournalists

After the 1992 L.A. riots, the Korean American Journalists Association called on the @latimes to hire a reporter to fairly & thoughtfully cover Korean communities. The paper hired K. Connie Kang, who was described as a "meticulous, sensitive observer." latimes.com/california/sto…

Kang also wrote a column for the Koreatown Weekly. “She was almost a saint,” said K.W. Lee, the publication's founder.

#WomensHistoryMonth
#WomenJournalists

"There was nobody who looked like me who was out there, so that’s why I wanted to be Walter Cronkite," Connie Chung said of her goal from a young age. The Chinese American later became CBS' first woman anchor on a national PM program & won many awards. shondaland.com/inspire/a20982…

Katie Couric made history in 2006 as the first woman to solo anchor a network weekday nightly TV news program, "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric." The occasion highlighted a tremendous career in broadcast news. history.com/this-day-in-hi…
#WomensHistoryMonth

Maria Elena Salinas (@MariaESalinas) is a Mexican-American journalist who was a staple on @UniNoticias for 37 years, anchoring "Noticiero Univision" with Jorge Ramos for 30 years. The multiple award-winning reporter works for CBS News. vogue.com/article/maria-…
#WomenJournalists

“We’re better when we have more perspectives & we can cover communities as deeply & widely as possible," said @Krissah30, the 1st managing editor for diversity & inclusion at the @washingtonpost. Thompson is the 1st Black woman managing editor at the paper washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/medi…