The Great Debate UK
Progress, but women journalists not home free
Linda Kay is a former sportswriter with the Chicago Tribune (and the first woman to write sports for the paper), an associate professor and chair of the journalism department at Concordia University in Montreal. She is author of a forthcoming book called “The Sweet Sixteen” about a group of groundbreaking women journalists in Canada. The opinions expressed are her own. Thomson Reuters is hosting a live blog on March 8, 2011, to mark International Women’s Day.
My students are often surprised to learn that one hundred years ago, women were working as journalists in Canada. According to the 1911 census, some 70 women across the country were categorized as “journalists, editors and reporters.”
It was an exclusive group that had grown incrementally since 1886, when Sara Jeannette Duncan became the first woman hired by a newspaper in Canada. These early female journalists were extremely talented; to earn a vaunted position on a daily newspaper, they had to be, as they were invariably the only female employed by the paper.
Hired for their literary ability, many were published poets, writers of fiction, or noted essayists. They were hired specifically to write and edit the “Woman’s Page” of the newspaper. The “Woman’s Page” had become a staple on mass circulation newspapers by the end of the 1800s.
Courageous Stephani Victor pays tribute to women’s day
- Barbara Scarpella-Reed is editor of Fiduciary Services at Lipper (a Thomson Reuters company) and a freelance journalist. The opinions expressed are her own. Reuters is hosting a “follow-the-sun” live blog on Monday, March 8, 2010, International Women’s Day. Please tune in.
Stephani Victor’s life is a portrait of one woman’s will to survive and recreate her story despite great adversity. On December 19, 1995, Victor was standing on the sidewalk in Hermosa Beach, California, when an out-of-control vehicle jumped the curb and crushed her into another car. In order to save her life, doctors had to amputate both legs above the knee. Her will and life force enabled her to reach deep down within herself, defying the odds.
Women’s sport sidelined by news media
- Liz King is director of the triathlon website www.TriSpiritEvents.com, and a triathlete with 25 years’ experience, who has raced six Ironman triathlons so far. The opinions expressed are her own. Reuters is hosting a “follow-the-sun” live blog on Monday, March 8, 2010, International Women’s Day. -
Wow, Wellington! You may think I am referring to the city on New Zealand’s north island, about which most people have heard. But no, I am referring to Chrissie Wellington, three times world Ironman triathlon champion. And guess what? She is British.
Gates closing for commercial partners in sport
- Professor Simon Chadwick, Director, Centre for the International Business of Sport, Coventry, UK. The opinions expressed are his own. -
This summer’s Tour de France was truly historic: the race finished without anyone having returned a positive dope test. Monumental! In a sport seemingly beset with drug problems, professional cycling appeared to have turned the corner, started over, seen the error of its ways, cleaned up its act etc.
What’s a goal (or five) worth?
-Professor Simon Chadwick, Director, Centre for the International Business of Sport, Coventry, UK. The opinions expressed are his own. -
There is a famous song, composed in the run-up to UEFA Euro 96, in which the Lightening Seeds, Frank Skinner and David Baddiel refer to England’s 30 years of hurt (the period at the time since England won its one and only World Cup).
