Welcome to Women in Journalism, a blog created by four journalism students: Ashley, Carrie, Danielle and Melissa. From past to present and aspiring to famous, we can’t wait to share information about all things journalism in relation to women.
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Women in Journalism 
The mission of the Women in Journalism blog was to discover more about and rekindle the interest in the topic of women in journalism, from the perspective of women journalism students, and to report fairly in historical and present day material. They wanted to create a timeline of events along with providing detail interesting to a reader.
The first topic, by Mccorbett Colorado, was a short biography about Sara Josephina Hale, the first woman editor in the United States. It gave some detail about how she came to occupy such a male-dominated role: She was widowed with five children, needed the money, and was highly talented and capable. Mrs. Hale was an appropriate choice for a person to profile for this topic. However, I was left wondering why her only enduring work, the poem “Mary had a little lamb,” deserved its immortal status. I have heard many explanations about why that poem was important, and was looking forward to another.
In the next topic, Women Writers by Ashelymarie5892, the writer mentioned a lot of names and didn’t provide enough detail about what the struggles were that they faced. For example, why did J.K. Rowling write under a male name in the present day? Did she feel that male writers were getting paid more? Also, it seemed to me that the writer had a lot more information that she could have shared in the article. Anyone who goes to the trouble of reading Jane Austin, Emily and Charlotte Bronte, knows a lot more about those author’s characters than she realizes, and could write something like, “Emily Bronte’s heroines who faced poverty and disgrace in class-stagnated 18th-century England, yet managed to triumph over their circumstances anyway, renew my faith in my ability to live through my own trying times. The writer of this article should avoid the use of clichéd adjectives such as “amazing.” Try to find another word
The quiz and the infographic timeline provided a nice break from the straight text. I liked the quiz that asked a question related to the topic, and then thanked me for my guess. Later I found the answer at the bottom of the page. The time line was laid out in an interesting way. I could see that the first printing press in the American Colonies was brought over 18 years after the establishment of the Plymouth Colony, and Sara Josephina Hale had a spot as well. I liked that the poll and the timeline had a bibliography. However, the introductory paragraph to the timeline ought to have been written in the third person; the use of first person gave it a preachy tone when it should have been more neutral.
Overall, the blog delivered on its promise to be interesting, and portray women journalists in their historical context. This was a credible first effort for collaborators who put things together under constraints of distance and time. Recently I read that the Linux operating system was created by several dozen people working on different continents over a very short time. Perhaps we have only begun to realize the potential of cooperating long-distance using the Internet. -Theresa Ward
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