EOTO Presentation Reflection: Mary Margaret McBride

 Who was Mary Margaret McBridge? 

Mary Margaret McBride was a reporter at the Cleveland Press and the New York Evening Mail. She was significant because she was one of the first women reporters. She also was not only a writer, but spent a lot of time conducting her radio show where she played a woman named Martha Deane. She was deemed "The First Lady of Radio." 

Martha Deane "The First Lady of Radio" 

McBride decided to create a fictional character when she was on the radio. The fictional character was meant to appear to be a kind, witty, old woman. The Martha Deane character was designed to be a mother of six children with many grandchildren. She was told she had to memorize the names of the children and grandchildren and had to keep the persona of a grandmother instead of her own persona. 

Her job as an "older" woman on radio was to discuss philosophy. McBride eventually began writing under Deane when she wrote and edited for the Newspaper Enterprise Association's women's columns. 

McBride had trouble remembering her characteristics of Martha Deane. She often mixed up her grandchildren and would forget her "Martha Deane" personality. After about threes weeks as Martha Deane on the radio she decided to tell her audience that she was not a grandmother. She stopped the "grandmother" outlook and took on her own personal characteristics while keeping the name Deane. 

The Significance of a Women's Voice: 

Her voice on radio was extremely significant for women. Even though she did not use her real name she did her best to advocate for women topics and women voices. She was the first women voice to go on the radio and it brought a voice to other women. 

It was not just her radio production, but also her writer and editorial jobs for women columns that contributed to the extension of women voices. She talked about women philosophical ideas and helped make women opinions heard. 

Good Night and Good Luck: Never Stay Silent

How far can a journalist go before they risk their career, their life, and their sanity? It is a question that has been hanging in the air of all journalists for centuries. 

Do I write what I know, or do I write what they want to hear? Another question that journalists face everyday. Sometimes what the people deserve to know is not what they expect or want to hear. It also sometimes requires a journalist to risk their safety or career. 

Good Night and Good Luck is a film that tells the tale of journalist Edward R. Murrow, Fred Friendly, and Joseph Wershba. The reporters run a broadcasted night time news show. Murrow is the lead reporter who is featured on the show. The rest of the team works behind the scenes to help him research, interview, and put together the show. 

It comes to their attention that Milo Radulovich, a U.S. Air Force officer, was caught in scandal revolving his family being involved with communism. The journalists realized that the public needed to know about the problem. Upon searching for the documentation, they find out that it was sealed and kept out of the public eye. 

The journalists are warned not only by CBS their broadcast channel producers, but also from outsiders. Murrow decides to go forward with the story. After airing the story the journalists are praised on their discovery and reporting. 

The film shows other examples of the journalists process on reporting factual and newsworthy problems. However, it shows the deep struggle that reporters have when reporting on controversial topics. 

The film explains the struggle that reporters have when they need to report on controversial issues by showing how the journalists were personally attacked, some lost their jobs in the end, and their broadcast show was put on the back burner at CBS. 

This brings us back the question: should a journalists report on what they know or what their audience wants to hear? Sometimes reporting on what they know is the most honest path, but it can put their career and personal life on the line. This is the difficult part of being a journalist. How can you balance your own personal needs with your career needs. You need a job to support you and your family, but you also have to tell the people what they deserve to know. This has always been difficult for journalists to balance, but the film is a great reminder that good journalism is still welcome in the world and a good journalists informs the people about the truth. 

The Struggle for the Female Voice to be Heard

As a woman I find it inspiring when I hear what women in the past have done to get their voices heard. Winifred Sweet was one of the woman that went above and beyond to express her voice as a female. She is remarkable because she wrote about important topics that were almost unheard of for a woman to be reporting on during her time. She accomplished many things, not only as a woman, but also as a journalist. However, her accomplishments did not come easy she faced many challenges. 

FEMALE LABELS: 
Women have always been given labels throughout history. Before feminism women were considered "weak", "caregivers", or even "not-smart". However, as times have changed that has proven to be not true. 

Sweet was given one name during her time as a journalist. "Sob Sister." Dictionary.com defines Sob Sister "a journalist who writes human-interest stories with sentimental pathos." Sweet was definitely a journalist who writes human-interest stories with emotional passion. However, the name became a mark towards woman. It was often used as a label to say that woman were more emotional in their stories. The label caught on and most woman felt it was a disadvantage towards their writing. 

THE HURRICANE THAT PROVED FEMINISM STRENGTH: 
September of 1900 a hurricane swept through Galveston, Texas. The hurricane took 7,000 lives and was called the "Tidal Wave". 

Sweet wanted to share with the world the tragedy that had taken place, but as a female the police would not let her in. Sweet took it upon herself to dress as a boy and snuck past the guards. She took pictures and wrote a store for Hearst media. The published piece captured the horrific event. It helped raise awareness for the disaster. It even led to the Hearst company funding a relief hospital. 

Officials undermined Sweet because she was a female. She had to pretend she was a male reporter. Today, we know it was her who went out and reported on the disaster. It was her who helped care for those who were injured or had a loss. Sometimes passionate emotion is better than no empathy at all. 

WOMEN HELPING WOMEN: 
Sweet was also known for her work in helping bring justice to the female race. She was not only a role model to women everywhere, but she also helped women fight injustice. 

Sweet was assigned to investigate the care women were being given in the emergency system. Sweet knew that if women were begin care for recklessly that she could not just march right in and begin asking. Instead, she had to find her way in a natural way. 

Sweet staged an "emergency test". She decided to faint in the middle of a public setting. People called an ambulance for help. However, she was not immediately brought to the hospital. She was probed by police. After the probing, she was brought to the hospital, but was treated rudely by the staff and doctors. 

Her test and report led to the discovery of a major scandal within the emergency system. She change the medical world for women. 

REFLECTION ON FEMINISM IN EARLY HISTORY: 
Sweet faced many challenges as woman, but she also paved the way for women in the world and in journalism. She is the reason I can study journalism in school today. She is the reason I can be a journalist in my future. She is the reason women are journalists reporting on war, the pandemic, and other important topics today. She changed the game for women everywhere and that is what makes Winifred Sweet so remarkable.