15 Pioneering Female Journalists

Cover image for “Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne, the First Lady of the Black Press”, by James McGrath Morris. (Cover image via Amistad)

6. Ethel L. Payne

Ethel L. Payne was called the “First Lady of Black Journalism”, and for good reason. She combined journalism with advocacy, an especially powerful force during the upheaval of the Civil Rights era.

Her start in journalism was rather unusual, however. In 1948, Payne started working at the Army Special Services club in Japan. While there, she met a visiting reporter from the Chicago Defender, a black newspaper with national distribution in the United States. She allowed the reporter to read her journal, which detailed some of the experiences of black servicemen and other African-Americans overseas.

The reporter was so taken with Payne’s writing that he carried the journal back to the United States. The contents of her journal soon became fodder for front page news at the Defender. When Payne returned to the U.S. in 1950, she claimed a reporting job at the newspaper.

The Chicago Defender was only the start, however. Payne soon gained a reputation as a passionate reporter who asked difficult questions. When she asked President Eisenhower about segregation in interstate travel, he became upset enough about “special interests” that it helped push civil rights to the front of American concerns.

Payne was also one of the first black women to undertake international reporting. In 1972, she also became the first African-American woman to take the stage as a commentator on a national news network, CBS.