The 'old girls' network

In the 1970s, women journalists employed at media outlets throughout the United States undertook an assortment of feminist activism to protest discriminatory employment practices on the basis of sex. They were assisted in their activities, and connected to each other, by new and alternative publications such as feminist newsletter Media Report to Women. Media Report to Women acted as a substitute for the social and professional ‘old boys’ networks’ which operated throughout the media during this period, by disseminating information about feminist activism, job advertisements and opportunities, advice from readers, and other relevant content. By undertaking a close reading of Media Report to Women, and assessing its method of production and role in circulating information, this article argues that founder and editor Dr Donna Allen’s use of cheap and sustainable technologies, and her own gendered labour, were instrumental in assisting and expanding the activism newswomen successfully undertook throughout the 1970s

Dissemination · Media studies · New media · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Social activism · Social media · Sociology · Gender Studies · Law · Media Studies and Communication