Women War Reporters

Abstract

During the early days of journalism, women were often either absent from newsrooms or working quietly behind the scenes, and were absent from the battlefield as reporters. Although access to opportunities in news reporting has improved for women, the area of war reporting remains a male‐dominated occupation. Prior to 1970, very few women were foreign war correspondents but by the early 1990s, they constituted around a third of such reporters. While updated numbers have not been reported, this percentage is similar to that published as the total number of news reports by women in 2017. Women who serve as war reporters prefer not to be referred to as “women reporters,” rather simply “reporters,” so as not to differentiate their abilities, news reporting value, and fortitude displayed on the front lines from their male counterparts. This entry discusses the historical contributions of women war correspondents who broke gender boundaries and created opportunities for future generations. These women include Dickey Chapelle, who was killed in action during the Vietnam war, Martha Gellhorn, who covered major conflicts for more than 60 years, Marie Colvin, the eye‐patch wearing journalist who died from injuries resulting from an explosion in Syria, and Christiane Amanpour, who covered conflicts in Kuwait, Bosnia, and Sarajevo on her way to anchoring CNN's “flagship global affairs programme.”