15 Pioneering Female Journalists

Cover to Of Fortunes and War by Patrick Garrett featuring Clare Hollingworth. Image via Thistle Publishing.

1. Clare Hollingworth

Though you’ve surely heard all about World War II in history class, what do you know about the reporters that told the world about the massive conflict? Did you ever learn, for instance, that the first reporter to break the news of the war was a woman?

In 1939, Clare Hollingworth was still a young reporter when she made her way across the border between Poland and Germany. While she drove along the border, Hollingworth noticed that screens were set up along the road, obscuring the view of the valley beyond. However, a wind soon drew back one of the loose screens, revealing the German army set to invade Poland.

Hollingworth also became one of the first journalists to report in real time on the invasion. In order to convince her editors that it was well and truly happening, she held her phone out the window to relay sounds of the German forces. She continued to report on the war from a number of locations, including Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and near Eisenhower’s forces in Algiers. This all happened despite the fact that female war correspondents did not receive accreditation as such.

After the end of the war, Hollingworth continued have a long and storied career in journalism. She reported on conflicts throughout the world, including those in Palestine, Vietnam, and Jerusalem. In 1963, she reported on the apparent defection of double-agent Kim Philby to the Soviet Union. However, her editor held her detailed account for three months before finally publishing it.

Hollingworth died recently, on January 10, 2017, in Hong Kong. She had moved there in 1981 and, though unofficially retired, frequently checked in with news sources and visited the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in the city. She was 105.