EOTO Response #2

 Gossip Columns and Fashion Journalism are categories with their own magazines and some top readers.

Gossip Columns 

Gossip columns began in the 19th century with James Gordon Bennett. Born September 1, 1795, and passed June 1, 1872. Although he passed, his work lives on today. 

Bennett started his own paper, The New York Herald, which focused on gossip columns but also included social news, celebrity accounts, 

When he first published these articles, he focused on the elite class of New York. Hollywood's rise in the 1930s and 1940s sparked the need for gossip columns because of movies to review and talk about.

Gossip columns were a way for Bennet to not allow us a way to see into actors' lives and entertainment from their actual lives.

Because of his beginning, we have popular gossip magazines like People, InTouch Weekly, Entertainment Weekly, and Star.  

Now, in the digital age, we not only focus on gossip about stars and the wealthy from magazines, but online as well. 

Thanks to the Father of Gossip columns, we can enjoy the new gossip of Hollywood stars and influencers daily. 

Fashion Journalism

Beginning November 15, 1785, Fashion Journalism started reporting on all kinds of fashion, from clothes to historical bedding. 

The first magazine for fashion was a French magazine named Cabinet des Modes. It was subscription only; they provided newspapers in France and worldwide. 

Because of Cabinet Des Modes' start, we have magazines and digital pages with content focused on fashion. Harper's Bazaar was the first publication dedicated to the lives of women through fashion.

Vogue is another top fashion magazine, and it is now one of the most popular magazines. It was founded in 1892 by Arthur Baldwin Turnure and targeted upper-class people in New York. The first issue sold for 10 cents on December 17, 1892. 

Today, some of the top fashion magazines are: Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Vanity Fair, and  InStyle.

Alice Allison Dunnigan

Alice Allison Dunnigan

Alice Dunnigan, a black journalist, made history even with all odds against her. Born April 27, 1906, and passed May 6, 1983. This woman made history as the first black woman allowed to report from the State Department, the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Supreme Court, and the White House. 

Mrs. Dunnigan's writing started early in life. By age 13, she wrote short news articles for her local paper, Owensboro Enterprise. Born in Kentucky, she paid for her schooling through working for cleaning services and any jobs available during the Jim Crow Era. Living during this time made it hard not only as a woman but also as an African American woman. Dunnigan education started at Knob City High School, now known as Kentucky State University. She received degrees from Normal and Industrial West Kentucky College, Louisville Municipal College, Tennessee A&I, and Howard University. Allison Dunnigan was also a member of the black sorority Sigma Gamma Rho at these universities. 

As an adult, Dunnigan wrote for a multitude of papers in Kentucky. She wrote for Lousiville Defender,

and Derbytown Informer. A few years later, Dunnigan moved to Washington, D.C., during World War 2. She came to D.C. and became a typist for the Labor Department. In the late 1940s, she became the Chief of the Washington Bureau for American Negro Press (ANP) which provided 100 newspapers to the United States and Africa. 

Even working up north in D.C., Dunnigan was still affected by Jim Crow and segregation. It affected her where she could live, transportation, eat, and pay rate. When the Washington Bureau first hired her, she was the first black woman to be hired and was considered a "trial" hire. During the first month of work, she was paid half a cent per word, but after complaining that this wage was unlivable, she upgraded to a full cent. 

While working for the Associated Negro Press(ANP) it was poorly funded but still found a way to produce news articles for the public. 

Along with ANP, the National Newspaper Publishers Association was another black-owned newspaper company. These newspaper companies were denied access to report on the Capitol Press galleries covering Congress. 

Even with race and gender holding Alice back, she continued fighting and later reached her goal of being allowed in. Alice's famous motivational words, "Race and sex were twin strikes against me. I'm not sure which was the hardest to break down."

Continuing her fight for years, Alice was allowed into the White House Press Corp. After being accepted, President Harry Truman allowed her to join his cross country whistle stop tour. Dunnigan dilemma was that while other networks paid for their journalist to attend the Associated Negro Press did not causing her to pave her own way to afford accommodations. 

While on tour in 1948, Dunnigan wrote about the early civil rights movement and desegregation, allowing equal opportunity for all. Even without financial support, she managed to report on Congress, Federal Agencies, and the White House. Even with Dunnigan noteworthy stories, she still received no financial support from her boss. 

With no financial support and the odds against her because of her race and gender, Dunnigan was never afraid to question government officials and the president about the struggles blacks faced in different government agencies and life. 

Once President Truman's term was over Eisenhower stepped up and was not as open to answering questions that revealed the harsh truth. 

Alice Dunnignan's journalistic career ended 190 during President John F. Kennedy election. This did not stop her work for equality as she became a consultant for the Presenditial Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity. 

Accomplishments

- received 50 awards in her lifetime

- worked as a White House Correspondent under four administrations: Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson

- Honorary Doctorate degree from Colorada State College 

- First African American member of the Women National Press Club

- 1974 Published Autobiography "A Black Woman's Experience: From Schoolhouse to the White House"

- 1982 Published "The Fascinating Story of a Black Kentuckian" 

- 1982, was indicted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame

Muckraking Journalism and what has been Uncovered

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Five Star Final Movie Review

Five Star Final came to big screens on September 26, 1931. A slow-burn movie about looking for a story to boost sales for the New York Evening Gazette. The Managing Editor was pushed by his boss to produce a story to gain more traction for the paper and increase sales no matter the extent. 

The editor, Joseph Randall, forced to find the next hot story, was told to bring up the past of a young lady's murder case. Nancy Voorhees was a killer of her child's father because of his cheating, but now, over twenty years later, she is a mother, wife, and everyday citizen, besides changing her name to start a new life. 

Joseph aimed to reveal Nancy Voorhees's new identity and expose her current life. What he didn't know was by exposing her, he would affect the life of her daughter, daughter fiancé, and current husband. 

This film shows the extent to which journalist Joseph Randall was willing to go for a story. Five Star Final included false identities, breaking and entering, spying, and death.

But what was missing in the journalist, possibly a moral compass, or is money more important?  

Five Star Final can still be related today, especially in early 2000's Hollywood. In stars and high-profile court cases, privacy is no longer a thing. There are cameras everywhere, and who is to say a person would not sell you out for a dime. A quote from the movie that stood out to me was from Mr. Randall's Assistant, Miss Taylor, " I think you can always get people interested in the crucifixion of a woman." Her words are relevant today. Female celebrity's lives, especially, are always in the media, whether it be her on a night out, relationship drama, or simply a weight change.

My Rating of Five Star Final is a 7/10, although it was a slow burn; the ending did cause a few tears to be shed and me at the edge of my seat. If you want a mystery classic film with a twist, this would be a top 10 recommendation. 

But this was more than a movie to put on and then walk away feeling the same. It makes you reflect on your own actions and how your actions affect other people's lives and those of those around them.

This movie, as an aspiring journalist, was an eye-opener. Is a story worth losing your morals or the downfall of someone else? That is up to you to decide with your own moral compass and snack of choice while watching on the big screen.