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Press Work in Fiction and in Fact


This volume considers the extent to which women’s involvement in journalism has been depicted in both fictional and factual print spaces. The texts in this volume were published in 1905, 1915 and 1932. Such a wide-ranging choice of material, in terms of publication dates, allows for insight into the shifting attitudes towards the female journalist and women’s careers in the public sphere. Female roles in journalism were still contested and debated after the fin de siècle. Despite many advances and expansion in women’s careers in the public sphere, as in the 1890s, women’s participation in journalism continued to be criticised, especially by ‘newspaper’ men. For example, in 1927 Anthony M. Ludovici, in an article published in the journal Current History entitled ‘Women’s Encroachment on Men’s Domain’, expressed his anger that ‘women now had the vote, the newspaper page . . . the city and journalism has changed since women began to compete with men’. Ludovici’s article shows a continuous reactionary backlash against women entering public spaces and journalism. Like Walter Besant, whose mocking tirade against the female journalist is reprinted in Volume I of this collection, Ludovici meditates on the impact of middle-class women intruding upon what he deems to be male geographical and print spaces. Although Ludovici’s article appeared thirty years after Besant’s piece, it confirms that well into the twentieth century male journalists continued to be anxious about women’s expansion into political, urban and print arenas. Ludovici’s article provides an interesting perspective on journalistic climates after the fin de siècle. It demonstrates that some male journalists remained committed to downgrading women’s autonomy and involvement with the press. Periodical and newspaper articles published in the 1900s, 1910s and 1920s often employed narratives that warned the reader to be cautious of the female journalist. Like their 1890s counterparts, male journalists were concerned with women’s ‘newness’, visibility and capability. Yet alongside such dismissive and critical views, many writers, both male and female, hailed the progressive, confident and ambitious female journalist as emblematic of modern life and an asset to the expanding press:

Newspaper Women . .. are more fortunate in the new century than their predecessors . .. they are treading new paths that lead from the fireside into the world . .. there is a great variety of work on the weekly and daily press that a woman can do. Many papers have women on their literary staffs, and experience has proved that they are as expert, and in some cases more expert than men. They act as interviewers, as . .. chroniclers of political and industrial developments . .. the ‘newspaper’ woman has become a valuable contributor to the daily press.

Volume Contents

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    Front Matter
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    Introduction By Lorna Shelley
  • The Female Journalist and the ‘Yellow’ Press in Fiction
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      A Yellow Journalist, New York: Appleton and Company, 1905 By Miriam Michelson
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        I
        The Pollexfen Story: In winch Mus Massey Aimed to Beat Mr . Thompson
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        II
        Honors are Easy: Between Miss Massey and Mr. Thompson
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        III
        The Pencil Will: And Miss Mussey's Unofficial Connection with It
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        IV
        The Fascination of Fan-Tan: Wherein Miss Massey Scents Graft in chinatown
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        V
        In Chy Fong's Restaurant: Where Miss Massey Meets a Missionary
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        VI
        That List of Bassett's: Which Miss Massey Published
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        VII
        The Legion of Honor: Which Miss Massey Earned
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        VIII
        Hanged at the Yardarm: Which Penalty Miss Massey Suffered
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        IX
        A Way Out: Which Miss Massey Discovered
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        X
        A Dream Trousseau: Which Miss Massey Ordered
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        XI
        The Act of a Thug: Which Miss Massey Committed
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        XII
        The Ex-City Editors' Club: And Horn Miss Massey Became Eligible for Membership
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        XIII
        A Boss, A Respected Proprietor, and a Whipping Boy: Horn Miss Massey Linked the Three
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        XIV
        Some Japanese Prints: Which Miss Massey Admired
  • ‘Is the Woman Journalist Wanted?’ The Female Journalist After the Fin De Siècle
    • Bachelor Girls, The Woman at Home 12 (New Series), June 1915, pp. 434–4 By M. Jeanne Peterson
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        Bachelor Girls By M. Jeanne Peterson
    • Journalism For Women, London: Fleet Publications, 1932 By Myfanwy I. Crawshay
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        I
        The Scope for the Woman Writer
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        II
        Finding the Right Appeal
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        III
        Openings for Articles
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        IV
        The Fiction Field
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        V
        Cultivating Your Market
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        VI
        Sidelines for the Woman Writer
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        VII
        Some Useful Points
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        VIII
        Where to Sell Your Work
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    Back Matter