Pauline Frederick (journalist)
Pauline Frederick | |
---|---|
Born | Pauline Frederick February 13, 1908[1] Gallitzin, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Died | May 9, 1990 | (aged 82)
Spouse | Charles Robbins |
Pauline Frederick (February 13, 1908 – May 9, 1990) was an American journalist in newspapers, radio and television, as well as co-author of a book in 1941 and sole author of a book in 1967.[1] in her nearly 50-year career, she covered numerous stories ranging from politics and articles of particular interest to women to military conflicts, and public interest pieces. Her career extended from the 1930s until 1981; she is considered one of the pioneering women in journalism.[2]: 101–102
Early life
Pauline Frederick was born in Gallitzin, Pennsylvania, on February 13, 1908, although several sources state the year as 1906.[1] Her father was Mathew Frederick, a postmaster, and her mother was Catherine Stanley.[1] Her family later relocated to Harrisburg, where she attended high school.[1] Frederick actually began her journalism career as a high school student, winning essay contests and writing for her school and local newspapers. She was her class valedictorian when she graduated in 1926.[1] When Frederick was only eighteen years old, she had to undergo a complete hysterectomy, which left her unable to conceive children.[1] Pauline decided that since she would never be a mother, she would devote all of her time and energy to a career. Upon graduation from high school, she entered American University in Washington, D.C., where she received her bachelor's and master's degrees in political science and international law. “A history professor, however, advised her to ‘leave the law to others’ and go back to journalism".[2]: 93 After finishing college at American University, Pauline followed the professor's advice pursuing a career in journalism with great determination, “and within four years she began to receive invitations to White House press events”.[1]
Professional career
In 1931, Frederick set out to get a journalism job and she took an interesting approach: “Because few important men in politics at the time would be interviewed by a woman, she decided to interview the men’s wives”.
In 1938, with her interest in electronic communications, she accepted a job as a part-time aide assisting in writing scripts for then-NBC Blue [6] radio reporter H. R. Baukhage. [2]: 95 [7] Her journalism career in radio began in 1939, when NBC Radio's director of women's programs, Margaret Cuthhert, heard of Frederick's interviews with diplomats’ wives and thought they would make a good radio feature.[8] Frederick took the job and her interview with the minister of Czechoslovakia's wife was heard on air shortly after Hitler's assault on Czechoslovakia.[8] Frederick continued to work as a newspaper and radio journalist in Washington, D.C., during the next seven years.[2]: 95 She authored four chapters in the book America Prepares for Tomorrow. Frederick's career as a serious news journalist began to gain momentum and take off.
In April 1945, Frederick got a tremendous career boost when she was given the opportunity to travel “as a war correspondent on a journalist’s tour of North Africa, Asia, and China nineteen countries in all”.[8] Her first foreign broadcast was done from China. Also on that trip she reported on a USO show with a male-only cast. She was later quoted in 1949 as describing the show as, “the roughest thing I ever heard”.[3]
Frederick is credited with being the first female reporter to broadcast from China.
In 1946, she accepted an assignment from ABC to travel to Uruguay to cover the presidential inauguration there. Later that year she landed an assignment to report on the final journey of the RMS Queen Mary as a troop ship; during the cruise she conducted an exclusive interview with General and Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower.[2]: 96 Of her struggles throughout her career, she once remarked, “all news activities are about people and the ability to cover should not be judged by the sex of the reporter but by the reporting ability”.[11]
In 1948, Frederick was the only reporter available to cover a breaking story at the United Nations, and later that year she was selected to cover the first televised political convention, an experience that gained her instant credibility.[2]: 96 In 1949, after years of struggle, Frederick became the “first woman ever to work full-time for a U.S. television Network,” ABC.[2]: 97 Also in 1949, she premiered a weekday news program entitled “Pauline Frederick Reports”, and ABC promoted her as the only female commentator broadcasting on-air.[1]
Frederick would continue to work for ABC, covering the Korean crisis and changes in Eastern Europe among many other important news stories, until 1953 when NBC hired her to cover the United Nations.[2]: 97 It was in this position that Frederick would become a household name. She covered the United Nations for NBC for twenty-one years, reporting daily on the most critical world issues.[1] Frederick was the United Nations correspondent on air from early in the morning to late at night through the coup crisis in Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Korean War, Middle East turmoil, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War.[2]: 97–98 She was in the middle of every major foreign affairs issue faced by the United States during her tenure as United Nations correspondent. Anchorman Chet Huntley commented about her reporting, “She is our dependable right arm in sorting out the legalities, the propaganda, the nationalistic sensitivities and the international nuances which frequent the UN”.[12]
In 1975, Fredrick retired from NBC, over two years before the network's mandatory retirement age of 70.
Awards and honors
During her long career, Pauline Frederick received numerous awards and honors, and was awarded “honorary doctorate degrees in journalism, law, and the humanities from more than twenty colleges and universities”.[4] As a part-time correspondent in 1946, she became “the first and only woman in television news”,[15] and then, in 1949 “the first woman ever to work fulltime for a U.S. television network” (American Broadcasting Company).[16]
Frederick was included in the Gallup poll's list of most admired women.
Personal life
Early in her career, Frederick had kept so busy with journalism that she had never made time for a personal life of her own. She married Charles Robbins on March 31, 1969.
Frederick retired from journalism in 1981 and moved with her husband to Sarasota, Florida.[2]: 98 In retirement, Frederick lectured on the mission of the United Nations and international affairs.[1] Charles Robbins died in August 1989.[2]: 102
Death
Frederick died of a
Publications
Ten First Ladies of the World
Pauline Frederick published a book of interviews with ten first wives in 1967. The book includes interviews with
America Prepares for Tomorrow, The Story of Our Total Defense Effort
In 1941, Pauline Frederick co-authored with William Dow Boutwell, B.P. Brodinsky, Joseph Pratt Harris, Glenn Nixon, and Archibald Robertson, America Prepares for Tomorrow. Frederick authored four chapters – Chapter Four, Aid to the Democracies; Chapter Twenty-Two, The Bread and Butter Line; Chapter Twenty-Three, Sitting on the Price Lid, and Chapter Twenty-Six, The Inner Lines – Problems of Propaganda and Sabotage, and provided research for Chapter Five.[22] This early in her career, she is clearly considered an equal to her male co-authors. In the About the Authors section of the book, Pauline Frederick is credited with specializing in foreign affairs and editing the Federal Register.[22] In her chapters, Pauline tackles the changing attitudes of isolationism in America, the consumer's relationship to national defense, the economics at home of building the weapons of war, and defending the American way of life.[23] Even this early in her career, Pauline Fredrick was recognized by some as a journalist and author capable of writing and reporting on serious news topics. At this point, most women in the field of journalism and, the female gender as a whole were not considered capable of performing such tasks.
Newspaper reporting
Pauline Frederick authored hundreds of newspaper articles over the course of her distinguished career. In keeping with the sexist practices of the time, most of her assignments were focused on women's issues. In the male-dominated field of journalism, a female reporter was not felt capable or respected enough to cover anything other than stories concerning feminine issues. Still, Frederick made her mark writing about significant news in relation to women. Her newspaper credits for the
Legacy
When Frederick began presenting the news on television, she was the only female doing so. In the early 1970s, NBC had four female correspondents, including Frederick. Her fellow female correspondents were
Timeline
- 1908 February 13 - Born in Gallitzin, Pennsylvania.[1]
- 1926 - Graduated from Central High School, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.[26]
- 1930 - Graduated from American University.[26]
- 1931 - First professional reporting position for the Washington Star.[2]: 101
- 1933-34 - Taught at Fairmont Junior College, Washington, D.C.[26]
- 1939 - Broadcast on-air for NBC Radio.[2]: 101
- 1941 - Co-authored America Prepares for Tomorrow
- 1944 - Stopped working for NBC Radio.[2]: 101
- 1945 - Performed overseas broadcast covering the Nuremberg Trials.[2]: 101
- 1945 April - Served on journalism tour of Asia as a war correspondent.[2]: 101
- 1947 September 26 - Started regularly covering the United Nations.[2]: 101
- 1948 - Becomes a freelance reporter for ABC.[2]: 101
- 1948 June – July - Covered the first political convention on television for ABC.[2]: 101
- 1948 August - Pauline Fredrick's Featured Story premiered on ABC in New York City.[2]: 101
- 1949 - Employed full-time as a reporter for a television network ABC.[2]: 101
- 1949 January 12 - Pauline Fredrick's Featured Story aired nationally for the first time.[2]: 101
- 1949 April 13 - Pauline Fredrick's Featured Story final episode was broadcast.[2]: 101
- 1950 - Reported from the United Nations on the conflict in Korea.[2]: 101
- 1952 October - All Star News premiered on ABC featuring Pauline Frederick.[2]: 101
- 1953 June - Left her position at ABC for a position at NBC.[2]: 101
- 1953 August - Reported for NBC on the national political conventions.[2]: 101
- 1954 - Received the Alfred I. duPont Award.[26]
- 1955 - Received the Peabody Award.[26]
- 1959 - Elected president of the United Nations Correspondents Association.[26]
- 1956 August - Reported for NBC on the political conventions.[2]: 101
- 1963 August - Covered the political unrest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for NBC.[2]: 101
- 1967 - Published Ten First Ladies of the World.
- 1969 March 31 - Married Charles Robbins.[2]: 101
- 1975 - NBC retired Pauline Frederick.[2]: 101
- 1976 October - Was the first woman to moderate a presidential debate.[2]: 101
- 1977 January - Started for NPR on the Pauline Fredrick and Colleagues show.[2]: 101
- 1981 - Left NPR and broadcast journalism.[2]: 101
- 1989 August - Charles Robbins, her husband died.[2]: 101
- 1990 May 9 - Died in Lake Forest, Illinois.[2]: 101
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Garraty, John A., ed. (1999). "Frederick, Pauline Annabel". American National Biography. Vol. 8. Oxford University Press. pp. 427–428.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au O’Dell, Cary (1997). Women Pioneers in Television. North Carolina and London: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.
- ^ a b Willens, Doris (23 July 1949). "Pauline Frederick: Only Woman Who…". Editors & Publishers. p. 42.
- ^ a b c d Blau, Eleanor (11 May 1990). "Pauline Frederick, 84, Network News Pioneer, Dies". New York Times. New York. pp. sec D, 18.
- ^ Gelfman, Judith S. (1976). Women in Television News. New York and London: Columbia University Press. p. 31.
- ^ "Pruning Advice to be Broadcast," Ogden (Utah) Standard-Examiner, July 21, 1938, p. 4.
- ISBN 978-1612346779. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
- ^ a b c d Yamada, Gayle K.; Hosley, David H. (August 1990). "Pauline Frederick: Broadcast News Pioneer". Communicator. p. 18.
- ^ Gelfman, Judith S. (1976). Women in Television News. New York and London: Columbia University Press. p. 32.
- ISBN 9780252014352.
- ISBN 9780803875029.
- ^ a b Talese, Gay (26 January 1963). "Perils of Pauline". Saturday Evening Post. p. 20.
- ^ Gelfman, Judith S. (1976). Women in Television News. New York and London: Columbia University Press. p. 47.
- ^ Gelfman, Judith S. (1976). Women in Television News. New York and London: Columbia University Press. p. 70.
- ^ Fellow, Anthony R. (2010). American Media History (Second ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. p. 299.
- ISBN 9780252014352.
- ^ "Seven Women in Radio and TV Win the McCall's Mike". McCall’s. May 1956. p. 76.
- ISBN 9780803875029.
- ^ "Golden Mike Awards," Arcane Radio Trivia. Retrieved Jan. 13, 2023.
- ^ Frederick, Pauline (1967). Ten First Ladies of the World (First ed.). New York: Meredith Press. pp. xi.
- ^ Frederick, Pauline (1967). Ten First Ladies of the World (First ed.). New York: Meredith Press. pp. 16.
- ^ a b Boutwell, William; Brodinsky, B.P.; Frederick, Pauline; Harris, Joseph; Nixon, Glenn; Robertson, Archie (1941). America Prepares for Tomorrow. New York and London: Harper & Brothers Publishers. pp. xv.
- ^ Boutwell, William; Brodinsky, B.P.; Frederick, Pauline; Harris, Joseph; Nixon, Glenn; Robertson, Archie (1941). America Prepares for Tomorrow. New York and London: Harper & Brothers Publishers. pp. ix–x.
- ^ ISBN 9780252014352.
- ^ Gelfman, Judith S. (1976). Women in Television News. New York and London: Columbia University Press. p. 167.
- ^ a b c d e f "Pauline Frederick Papers, 1917-1990". Northampton, Massachusetts: Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
Further reading
- Greenwald, Marilyn S. (2015). Pauline Frederick Reporting: A Pioneering Broadcaster Covers the Cold War. Potomac Books. ISBN 978-1612346779.
External links
- Pauline Frederick Papers at the Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections
- Pauline Frederick at the Museum of Broadcast Communications
- Pauline Frederick Is Dead at 84; Was News Analyst for 3 Networks; The New York Times, May 11, 1990