EOTO Reacts: Celebrity Journalism

 Celebrity Journalism

    Celebrity journalism was known to advance through media and newspapers. The commercialization of media and newspapers and the rise of celebrities. Celebrity journalism has allowed people to look into the private lives of celebrities. Covering celebrities took away from coverage of public life and politics. While many started to become more interested in celebrities that become the new entertainment over politics. More and more reporters were trying to interview celebrities to broadcast was was popular in the world. Television and newspaper got the attention of race and increased celebrity content on both platforms. During the regency era, newspapers and pamphlets were deduction sections to local gossip and juicy stories going around. The first true celebrity magazine was Photoplay in 1911.

    

    Today celebrity journalism is very popular in the world. Some would say the main source of entertainment. E! News and Entertainment are big news sources of celebrity entrainment nowadays. They have bold headlines and entire news publications designed for celebrities. There have become multiple TV shows dedicated to celebrity drama that have become very popular. Social media has become full of entertainment with celebrities left and right. I use social media to gather information on celebrities and entertainment that is happening right now. Social Media has also become a major platform for influencers t develop and become celebrities and build businesses. I would say social media is the main platform where celebrity journalism is found and reported. A lot of journalists can also find information for stories on celebrities' Instagram as most celebrities post their lives for the world to see. However, this typically causes a lot of scandals and drama for celebrities as it's hard for them to keep a private life. Celebrity Journalism has become a major entertainment in the world that many reporters can find stories on and report on. 

EOTO: Female War Correspondents

 Female War Correspondents

War correspondents are media representatives who accompany the armed forces in the case of an international armed conflict. They would benefit from the prisoner of war status if they were to be captured by enemy forces. 

These war correspondents and everyday reporters do have their differences. While they both report on events, regular reporters typically work for specific newspapers or broadcasting networks in a certain area. While correspondents report news from a particular region or country on specific topics. These correspondents are typically put into more dangerous scenarios having the risk of being caught or attacked. 

Margaret Bourke-White

“The camera is a remarkable instrument. Saturate yourself with your subject, and the camera will all but take you by the hand and point the way.” (Margaret Bourke-White)

    Margaret Bourke-White grew up to be a very well-known female war correspondent. She was born in New York City in 1904, Margaret attended Columbia University in 1921 and took a photography course at the Clarence H. White School of Photography from 1921-22. She received her first camera, a secondhand 3 ¼ x 4 ¼ inch ICA Reflex with a cracked lens that she needed for a class. She took her first photographs on glass plates. She ended up graduating in 1927 from Cornell University with a degree in biology, however, she spent most of her time establishing herself as a professional photographer as that seemed to be her true passion. 

   

    She opened her first studio in her apartment in Cleveland, Ohio, where she took photographs of architecture and industry. Her work caught the eye of Henry Luce, the publisher of Fortune who then hired her in 1929, and he sent her to the Soviet Union to take pictures. She becomes the first foreign photographer to make pictures of Soviet Industry. In 1934 she photographed the “Dust Bowl” for Fortune which later led to the publication of “You Have Seen Their Faces (1937)”. This documented the human aspects of the Depression and featured text by Erskine Caldwell who was an American Novelist. She was hired as one of the first photographers for Henry Luce's new magazine “Life Magazine”

    Over the next several years throughout World war II, she produced several photo essays on the turmoil in Europe and was the only Western photographer to witness the German invasion of Moscow in 1941. She was also the first woman to accompany Air Corps crews on bombing missions in 1942 and she traveled with Patton’s Army through Germany in 1945 as it librated multiple concentration camps. For the new twelve years, she continued to photograph major international events and stories. This included Gandhi’s fight for Indian Independence, the unrest in South Africa, and the Korean War. However, in 1953, she, unfortunately, contracted Parkinson’s disease which lead to her retirement. In 1957 she released her last photo essay for Life, “Megalopolis”. 

 

Kate Webb

    Kate Webb is another well-known female war correspondent from the early years of journalism. She was born in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1943 and soon moved to Australia. Her mother was a feminist activist and her father was a professor of political science at the Australian National University. At only 15 she was charged with the murder of her friend, Victoria Fenner. It was found that Webb had supplied the rifle and bullets to Victoria who had, unfortunately, shoot herself. However, the charges were dropped of the false conviction as Webb stated she thought her friend was joking when we asked for the gun and bullets. If that was traumatic enough for Kate, three years later both of Kate’s parents died in a car crash. 

    She got a job as a secretary at the Sydney Daily Mirror to pat back damages that were made when she accidentally broke an expensive pane of stained glass she had been commissioned to paint while working as an artist. She later quit her job there and headed for Vietnam, to report on the war with only a typewriter and a few hundred dollars to her name. Webb was hired as a junior reporter for United Press International where she covered Vietnamese politics in Saigon, South Vietnam. She was the first to report back and one of the only correspondents left in the city when the Tet Offensive was launched in 1968. Webb made her way to the scene of the fighting where the ground was full of dead soldiers from both sides. 

Webb wrote that “it looked like a butcher's shop in Eden, beautiful; but ghastly” on the horrific scene she saw. 

She reported on the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, where she was almost attacked by a militiaman who tried to drag her up a flight of hotel stairs by her hair. However, she was rescued by a few other reporters in the building before anything escalated. Webb also reported on the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in India, the 1968 revolution in the Philippines, the conflict in East Timor, and the Gulf War. After years of reporting and photography Webb quit reporting once and for all to settle along the Hunter River at age 58. 

    

Dangers of Being a Female War Correspondent 

    While the amount of female reporters has expanded over time many have experienced the dangers of being a female war correspondent. Women reporters face ‘Bizarre Patronizing’ in the field. Physical assaults are also known to be more likely towards female correspondents. The case of Lara Logan's assault broke the ‘code of silence’ for female reporters. Logan was who was sexually assaulted by a mob of people after she was separated from her team while she was covering the protests in Egypt’s Tahir Square in 2017. There were several women in the mob who were not harmed. Many claimed Lara to be “petite and attractive” as some would say an “easy target”. It is so saddening that female reporters and journalists are now afraid to do their job not knowing what could happen or how people could react. This was really eye-opening for the world of journalism as many are claiming it's becoming less safe for women's reports. 

According to a survey on female journalists' harassment… 85% of respondents said they believe journalism is becoming less safe.

Lara Logan to detail her assault on "60 Minutes" - YouTube

EOTO Reacts: Girl Reports

Girl  Reporters: Nellie Bly & Winifred Sweet Black

 Reporting back from the 1900 female reporters have made such an impact and growth in their journalism careers. I was fascinated to learn about the undercover group of girl journalists who gathered information to become reporters. One of which is Nellie Bly. Born on May 5th, 1864 in Cochrans Mills, Pennsylvania. She had her first job at Pittsburg dispatch at age 16 because of how passionate and determined she was. A big accomplishment of hers was when she went undercover into an insane asylum to get a story on what was really going on behind the walls of the clinic. Bly got admitted into the asylum by posing as a patient with all these medical issues. While she was there she witnessed horrifying conditions of neglect and abuse. “Behind asylum bars and 10 days in a mad house,” Nellie claimed, “I said I would and I did”. She found a lot of information and learned people were tortured and abused and were able to write a breathtaking story on what truly happened in this asylum. She also took a trip around the world in 72 days breaking a record at the time.

Winifred Sweet Black was another girl reporter who made history with girl reporting. She was claimed to be a beautiful red-headed girl who always wanted to be an actress. She worked with an acting group but didn't get any bigger roles and hated it. She would send letters to her sister which later got published on how passionate she was. She then moved to NYC to try and pursue her new reporting and storytelling dreams. She claimed she, “would do anything for the pursuit of news”. There were cases of her faking an injury to go into a hospital uncover, SA, and being treated very poorly “A city's disgrace”, all to get behind the scenes for the stories. Her undercover stories became a trademark for her and girl reporting throughout history. I found it so fascinating to learn all about girl reporting and how far they've come over time. Girl reporters have come such a long way and it's inspiring to learn about what they were willing to do for a good story. 

EOTO #2: Joseph Pulitzer

Joseph Pulitzer 

 

About Him:

Born on April 10, 1847, in Mako Hungary into a wealthy family of Magyar- Jewish origin. Joseph grew up in Budapest and was educated there in private schools and by tutors. In his early years, he decided to become a soldier and tried to enlist in the Austrian Army, Napoleon's Foreign Legion for duty in Mexico, and the British Army for service in India. He was rejected due to his weak eyesight and frail eyes. However, he encountered a bounty recruiter for the U.S. Army in Hamburg, Germany where he contracted to enlist as a substitute for a draftee. This type of procedure was permitted under the Civil War draft system. He was then enlisted for a year in the Lincoln cavalry which worked well for him since there were many Germans in the unit and he was fluent in German and French but only spoke very little English. He soon worked his way to St. Louis where he worked multiple jobs such as muleteer, baggage handler, and waiter. He would continue to spend his free time in the city's Mercantile library where he studied English and the law. 

Beginning of his Career:

His first excellent career opportunity came in quite a unique way. He was in the library's chess room observing the game of two regulars where Pulitzer corrected a move and the prayers were impressed, engaging him in conversation. Soon to find out the players were editors of the leading German-language daily and Westliche Post. They offered him a job. This job entitled Pulitzer to build a reputation as a determined enterprising journalist. 4 years later, in 1872 he was offered a controlling interest in the paper. At just age 25 Pulitzer became a publisher and soon followed a series of business deals from which he became the owner of the St. Louis Post- Dispatch, and a rising figure on the journalistic scene in 1878. 

He mastered English extremely well as a speaker, writer, and editor. He soon became an American newspaper editor and publisher who helped to establish the pattern of the modern newspaper. In his time he was one of the most powerful journalists in the United States. Pulitzer supported organized labor, attacked trusts and monopolies, and exposed political corruption. He was committed to raising the standards of the journalism profession. Pulitzer worked his day from early morning until late night, interested in every little detail of the paper ensuring it was appealing to the public. 

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The Saint Louis Post-Dispatch:

The Morning daily newspaper published in St. Louis soon became one of the most prestigious newspapers in the United States. It Was founded in 1878 when Pulitzer purchased the 15-year-old bankrupt St. Louis Dispatch and merged it with the 3-year-old St. Louis Post of John A. Dillon to form the known St. Louis Post-Dispatch. This paper procured a succession of civic crusades and sensational exposes that attracted a lot of readers. Pulitzer established an “independent, liberal policy from the beginning and took a strong stance against corruption in public office.” The paper continued in the Pulitzer family for years.

New York World:

Pultizer was also involved with New York World. This Daily newspaper was published in New York City from 1860 to 1931. It was established in 1860 as a penny paper with a basic religious orientation. Joseph Pulitzer purchased the newspaper in 1883 and this is when its coverage began to be increasingly flamboyant. The World has been known for its “numerous outstanding reporters, columnist, editors and cartoonist”. However due to heavy losses and price increases the paper was sold and combined with The New York World-Telegram to later be known as the New York World-Journal Tribune, which lasted less than a year. According to Pulitzer.org, he crusaded against public and private corruption, filled the news columns with a series of sensational features, made the first extensive use of illustrations, and staged news stunts. His newspaper, The World, soon became very successful climbing more than 600,000 with all its editions and it reigned as the largest circulating newspaper in the country. However, this lifestyle become very competitive. The publisher of The Sun, Charles Anderson Dana, launched a personal attack on Pulse Tier because of all his success. Charles attacked him as “the jew who had debuted his race and Elgin” trying to alienate New York’s Jewish community from The World. With his declining health continuing in 1890, at the age of 43, he withdrew from the editorship of The World and never returned to its newsroom. He became partially blind, sensitive to noise, and fell into a deep depression. 

The Pulitzer Prize:

With all of his accomplishments throughout the journalism world, The Pulitzer Prize has become the most prestigious award in American Journalism. One year after Pulitzer died aboard his yacht in 1912, the Columbia School of Journalism was founded where the Pulitzer Award was administrated. It was established in 1917 from funds endowed by the journalist and newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer. The Pulitzer Prize is the highest national honor in print journalism, literacy achievement, and musical composition. The Pulitzer Prizes are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories. The New York Times has won the most Pulitzer Prizes with 132, winning its first award in 1918.