When I was first breaking into journalism in the '60s, newsrooms were completely dominated by men. There was no nuance to this; women were confined to subservient roles. As Baby Boomers, many of us were active in the antiwar and civil rights movements, and soon every other form of inequity came into focus for us -- especially misogyny and homophobia.
In the media industry, women started demanding equal opportunities.
If there has been a silver lining to the past year for me, it has been the chance to catch up on all of the films and TV series I missed during the years I was employed in jobs I considered too demanding to allow for entertainment breaks.
So there was some serious catching up to do.
One of the series I missed initially was "Good Girls Revolt," the 2016 Amazon production based on Lynn Povich's 2013 book of the same name, thinly fictionalizing the events that led women employees to challenge the existing order at Newsweek magazine.
And according to this version, there was at least as much "sex, drugs and rock n roll" at Newsweek as at Rolling Stone.
Oh, Rolling Stone gets plenty of attention, including stories both publications covered: the war, the Black Panthers, the Weather Underground bombings, police corruption, graffiti artists, feminist protests, advertising pressure on content, etc.
Early in the series and once later on, a character playing Nora Ephron makes an appearance -- she is accurately portrayed as having quit Newsweek because the magazine used her work but didn't give her a byline, which was emblematic of how women were treated at the time.
Of course, Ephron simply went on to become a not only a successful writer, most famously at Esquire, but a screenwriter/producer responsible for films like Sleepless in Seattle, Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally, Julie and Julia, You've Got Mail, Bewitched, and many others.
It's difficult to think of a journalist/screenwriter with a better resume during her lifetime; she died in 2012 at age 71.
Overall, the series focuses on a group of women trying to make it at Newsweek, but the men in supporting roles represent the mixed feelings my generation of male journalists had as we saw our female colleagues battle for their rights. Our bosses were all men who expected us, not the women, to eventually take their places, but some of us ultimately sided with our female colleagues instead.
I liked the series; it brought back a lot of memories, good and bad. It was cancelled after one season of ten episodes.
Back to the real world, the battle for gender equality in journalism wasn't resolved by that one lawsuit.
Because the pay and power disparities for women persist to this day.
(image: English journalist Bessie Rayner Parkes, 1900)
***
The news:
* How did the pandemic begin? It’s time for a new WHO investigation. (Editorial Board/WP)
* ‘Firefighters Out There in the Snow’: Wildfires Rage Early in Parched West -- Firefighters in New Mexico, Arizona and California are battling springtime blazes that have been fueled by a severe drought and boosted by climate change. (NYT)
* Arrests in Paris as thousands join May Day protests across France (Reuters)
* High-ranking diplomats from China, Germany, France, Russia and Britain made progress at talks Saturday focused on bringing the United States back into their landmark nuclear deal with Iran, but said they need more work and time to bring about a future agreement. (AP)
* Democrats signal they’re open to concessions on infrastructure (WP)
* Big Five: There’s regular-big, and then there’s pandemic-big. Over the past year, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and Google have become more enormous than ever, and now account for nearly 25% of the S&P 500’s total value. (WSJ)
* An Artist And A Scientist Take On The Stigma Of Addiction (NPR)
* Trump allies worry Giuliani raid sent 'strong message' to ex-President's inner circle (CNN)
* India reports record-breaking 400,000 new cases, Fauci says crisis ‘like a war’ (WP)
* Faith, Freedom, Fear: Rural America’s Covid Vaccine Skeptics (NYT)
* New London-based standards board targets mid-2022 for global climate company disclosures (Reuters)
* CDC estimates that about 35% of Americans have been affected with Covid-19. (CNN)
* GOP seeks to convince vaccine skeptics within its own ranks (AP)
* Covid 'Doesn't Discriminate By Age': Serious Cases On The Rise In Younger Adults (NPR)
* Republicans have seized on a recent claim that former Secretary of State John Kerry told Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif about Israeli strikes on Iranian interests in Syria. Zarif made the allegation in leaked audio, a claim which, if true, would undermine the US relationship with Israel. (CNN)
* How the Pentagon Started Taking U.F.O.s Seriously (New Yorker)
* Biden administration forges new path on North Korea crisis (WP)
* A Refugee Who Fought Back Against the Hard Right -- Alassa Mfouapon was falsely accused by a German tabloid and a far-right leader of starting a violent protest. So he sued them, and won. (NYT)
* How the pandemic led to a rental car crisis just as Americans are ready to bust loose (WP)
* On top of zero-emission vehicles, GM looks to clean up its own operations (Reuters)
* Biden cancels border wall projects Trump paid for with diverted military funds (WP)
* U.S. Shows Progress in Moving Migrant Children From Border Jails (NYT)
* Season of the Slump: Baseball players keeps swinging and missing (AP)
* Sex Toy Discreetly Shipped In Plain Dildo-Shaped Box (Th Onion)
***
Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad
Or listened to a Jukebox all night long
But I see these are the things that bring you pleasure
So I'm gonna make some changes in our home
So if that's the way you wanted me to be
I'll change if it takes that to make you happy
From now on you're gonna see a different me
I'm gonna be the swinginest swinger you've ever had
If you like 'em painted up, powdered up
Then you oughta be glad
'Cause your good girl's gonna go bad
In fact, you'll hardly recognise your wife
I'll buy some brand new clothes and dress up fancy
For my journey to the wilder side of life
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