This was such a varied read and an in-depth look at some pioneering figures in the field of British journalism. As well as bring well-deserved attention to the professional motivations of these women, it was clear that the author had conducted extensive research into the family lives, experiences, and challenges they each encountered.

Although this took me a while to read, I really appreciated the fact it looks at the industry with a focus on female endeavours and success - something that was overlooked at the time. One I would recommend to any literature or history students and scholars wanting to expand their knowledge of the trade, and learn more about the characters who contributed to its success.

I did not finish this one. It’s boring. BORING. I don’t mind biographies but this book seems like it will never end.
Ron Chernows Hamilton felt that long but at least stuff happened there.
Don’t recommend.

This was an interesting look at the world of journalism and the key female players who paved the way for women in this industry. Some of the women mentioned I was aware of and others were a surprise. I found the diversity of women and their separate journeys into journalism in a time when women weren’t encouraged to pursue this career path as fascinating. My only criticism is that there is a lot of heavy biography information about a lot of women and their husbands and children and which papers they worked for that felt a little repetitive. This book explored all the avenues of journalism that women worked in, for example news stories, politics, sport, agony aunts, horoscope writers, writers that wrote novels etc. I think if the author had condensed the number of topics discussed in this book, then the repetition of biographical information wouldn’t have felt so tedious. But I think this is an interesting topic and I am pleased that it’s been republished so others can read it.

Thanks to the author Liz Hodgkinson, Lume Books and NetGalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

“The First Ladies have been collectively derided over the years as Glenda Slagg in Private Eye an are often considered to be not ‘real’ journalists, at least not worthy to stand alongside those who undertake dangerous undercover work or campaign to correct major injustices or financial scandals.”

Hodgkinson details the lives of many women over the course of the twentieth century who shattered the glass ceiling and broke into the journalist profession in London. Each chapter is focused on a different subset of the profession, such as crime or war reporters, and is filled with incredible stories and hilarious anecdotes.

The women described in this book are all so inspiring, and I learned a lot about the newspaper industry in twentieth century London. Hodgkinson clearly put a lot of work into the research for this book. It shows on every page.

That being said, this book is problematic for multiple reasons. For one thing, Hodgkinson seems to use rose-coloured glasses when describing the sexism faced by all of these women both at work and at home (see below quote). She almost seems to treat it as quaint at some points. Furthermore, reading this book, one would almost think that women of colour do not exist. At all. I kept wondering if there would be a chapter devoted to the intersectional experiences of women reporters of colour or from other marginalized communities, but I found no mention of anything of the sort.

“Few men were tough enough for this life, let alone women [...] Many were too nervous to apply for a job as a reporter or feature writer on a newspaper.”

While this book is probably the only place to learn about the subject, my recommendation comes with a few caveats. If you really want to know about how white women made inroads into British journalism in the twentieth century, do pick it up.

Liz Hodgkinson, The Women Who Transformed Journalism, First published by Revel Barker Publishing, 2008, this publication, Lume Books, 2018.

Thank you, Net Galley, for sending me this edition to be reviewed.

Liz Hodgkinson writes warmly, endearingly and with panache about the wonderful (despite their many flaws) women who transformed journalism. Even the most alarming become women with whom it is easy to empathise as they push, flatter, marry, demand, crash and cajole their way into Fleet Street, local newspapers, magazines: the whole plethora of print; into pages of fashion, gossip, advice, politics and foreign and war torn countries; as writers, editors, ‘First Ladies’, subjects of criminal investigation and one of a couple in the journalism world; and then, using their skills honed in journalism, as novelists. This is such a wonderful romp, sometimes with its serious side, through a world that remains thrilling despite the disappointments of the most recent journalism engendered by the narrowing world of media ownership. Cathy Couzen’s comment ‘I know one thing - no one ever talked about self - esteem or sexual harassment in the workplace – we thought that was part of the job! If you can’t take the heat get out of the kitchen. So far as I was concerned, it just made it more fun!’ is one approach; but there is some serious reflection by the author and others on the role of sexual harassment in the workplace to which women aspired. It also contrasts with Polly Toynbees' very different approach.. She ‘was less impressed with the achievements of women like Eve Pollard and Rebekah Brooks, saying ‘they have been editors of pretty disgusting papers. They regard doing things just like the boys as a triumph. The Daily Mail is trashing women every day. Female journalists have a responsibility to look at the world through different eyes, not mimicking men. They should think how to better reflect women instead of joining the lads’ culture’.
The chapter headings demonstrate the breadth of the material covered: First Lady; Women on the Street; Pioneer women; The Fashion Writers; Agony and ecstasy; The Political and Foreign Correspondents; The editors; Working Girls; Brought to book; The superstars; and Good old bad old days. There is an Appendix about the author, a former journalist whose story is also interesting and informative about the world of journalism.. Although there is no index, there is a Further Reading list, a list of the newspapers, journals and websites consulted; and a reference for a film mentioned in the text. Well known names are scattered throughout, they will be different for each reader, but it is most likely that any reader will find several names to which they can respond, ‘Oh, I know about her’ – sometimes several times. Some will be women whose stories sound familiar; some will astound and shock. All demonstrate tremendous courage, a willingness to fight for what they want, and successes. These women are determined, not necessarily nice, but achievers and these qualities come through in the way in which Hodgkinson writes about them. Sometimes the organisation of the material seems to be overtaken by the enthusiasm, almost as though the women journalists are demanding attention to this achievement, that endeavour, another idea, but this adds to the pleasure in reading about them.
Jean Rook, referred to as the ‘First Lady of Fleet Street’ begins the book. She is writing for the Daily Express at this time and became ‘one of the most high-profile female journalists ever known’. Together with Lynda Lee- Porter, Katherine Whitehorn and Jilly Cooper’ she was a ‘big name columnist’ from the 1970s. This period ushered in the big name, although women had been producing columns since the 1930s. Their columns were a mixture of domestic events, the week’s news and current affairs – all with a personal touch. Women felt able to move between newspapers or made the best of difficult situations by moving on, often to bigger and better things. Hodgkinson says that they were the ‘trailblazers’ the women who opened up journalism to young journalists. Their stories make a lively and informative beginning to the book.
Fashion as respected topic, together with the ‘agony’ columnists demonstrate the way in which women journalists took advantage of stereotyping and were able to rush into print. However, the way into ‘men’s’ fields of politics and foreign correspondence focusses on how women had to have immense drive and be ready to demand to enter these fields. Women political journalists have a history as far back as the 1890s, with many starts and stops. Similarly, women foreign correspondents also had an early start, hampered throughout their attempts on building on this, with short-lived breakthroughs to some success in the 1970s. The discussion of this work against male intransigence (and stereotypes about women and their suitability for being at the war fronts) was particularly interesting as I had heard only of a successful woman war journalist. As an Australian I recall listening to Diana Willman on AM (the morning current affairs radio show) on ABC as she called in from Beirut. This was in the 1970s and then thrilling to hear. This recall has been made more so by the backstory of similar British women journalists in this book.
The milieu of Fleet Street, a difficult environment for women to enter, and requiring tenaciousness (at least) to stay provides some wonderful material, until its demise when the newspapers left to be dispersed throughout the city and further. The changes made after the introduction of new technology and diminution of the Printers Union power make interesting reading, Hodgkinson’s perceptiveness about the challenges of both the hey day of the union, and its lessening influence make good reading.
Some women journalists have become popular novelists. Barbara Taylor Bradford, Jilly Cooper, Shirley Conran, Val McDermaid and Penny Vincenzi are well known authors, and they, amongst others are discussed in the last chapter. Hodgkinson’s consideration of their work and the skills they have translated from journalism to novel writing are particularly interesting.
The Women Who Transformed Journalism is a wonderful historical document, with its personal stories, accessible writing and insight into the environment of Fleet Street and afterwards. However, I would have liked a chapter that really brought us up to date with the world of 2020s journalism. Although there are some glimpses, Polly Toynbees’ comment provides an excellent start to some debate around the idea that now women have entered the field on some sort of equal basis do they have a special role as women journalists? Are they responsible for working against stereotyping that undermines other women’s successes? Of course, there is a huge amount of feminist work done by women journalists, and within some of the novels referred to in the book, and a chapter debating these journalists and their work would have been useful. The role of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire in recent history about women journalists would have also been a useful addition. Those comments aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this work, and was pleased to have the opportunity to review it.

Informative and interesting, loved learning about women that I'd never heard of before - but surprised at how short it was. Assumed it would be a little less textbooky, enjoyed nonetheless

This novel is a historical summary about women who started journalism in a male dominated Fleet Street, London. It highlights how for many the journey into journalism was sexist, misogynist and challenging. I found the book interesting and learnt a lot from each memoir - I could draw a lot of parallels from my own experiences in male dominated industries.

It does feel very essay-like to start with but once you get into the flow of the book it reads very well.

this is a short but incredibly detailed insight into how newspaper journalism has progressed for women. I’m not familiar with the world of journalism so most of the names mentioned didn’t mean anything to me. i honestly didn’t realise how many female authors started out as journalists. though it was a long read for me, and i found most of it boring, i did find it interesting to read the history of how newspapers came to be what they are today. i did learn some interesting facts like the daily mirror was originally a women’s newspaper. i feel like this was more like a textbook than a memoir/biography.

thank you to netgalley and lume books for the copy of this book.

More textbook than gripping yarn or inspiring tale.
I found sections of this book very interesting. I guess it depends very much on your interests in the world as to which sections will grab you. I found the foreign, war and crime sections fascinating but the fashion and day to day stuff much less so.
An absolute who's who of the journalism world, it will be exceptionally useful for anyone doing media studies or journalism courses but not something I'd recommend picking up for a bedtime story.

This is a novel about the first women who entered into journalism in London’s famous Fleet Street. Journalism, an industry which was traditionally male-dominated, was about to change as women started to join the workforce and make a name for themselves. As a result, the industry had powerful women writing articles in well-known publications. However, for most of these women, their journey to become a journalist was not easy, having to deal with sexism and doubt on their abilities from the moment they start working.

This is a biography/ memoir of some of the (first) most influential women who changed journalism for the better. There are a lot of amazing and ambitious women included in this novel and reading about their individual journey in journalism was really interesting. Now, most of these journalists were really ‘tough’ since Fleet Street is an extremely masculine environment making it difficult for female writers to survive in the field otherwise. However, they all have their unique personalities — my personal favourite journalists to read about were Jean Rook and Alison Settle.

My only criticism is that this novel reads like an essay in some sections; it did not feel like a biography/ memoir, especially in the first couple of chapters. After getting through the first couple of chapters, I was much more familiar with the writing style and this was not a major issue anymore, but it was a little bit of a turn off in the beginning.

Overall, I think this is a great historical summary of these women in journalism. I think the later chapters about fashion journalism and Vogue will appeal to a lot of readers since Vogue does have that link to pop-culture. But of course, reading about the other women was equally fascinating. It was a lovely novel.