The Nation Turned to Woman-Power...

During the 1900's a woman's job was mainly to stay at home, cook, clean and take care of her family. However, all of that changed during World War II. Women were encouraged to work, when there was a severe labor shortage. "Faced with a critical need for manpower, the nation turned to womanpower" Streitmatter 144. The government initiated the propaganda campaign that lured women into working. Their most popular was "Rosie the Riveter".

In chapter 9, Streitmatter discusses how Rosie the Riveter was your ideal woman worker. WWII gave women hope in showing that they could make something of themselves, other than being the average housewife. "There is no example in which a class or group of people who have once succeeded in expanding the area of their lives is ever persuaded again to restrict it" states Dorothy Thompson pg 144.

Encouraging more women to work, the media definitely played their part from the circulation of newspapers to magazines. Such as, the New York Times, Newsweek and the Christian Science Monitor. Most importantly, the radio. KJR aired twice a week explaining the importance and details of the women's workforce. "Newspapers also glamorized working women in their news stories" Streitmatter 147. The women were admired for their superior work, and performing some jobs better than the men could. 

I truly believe that these women have shaped the way women today are praised for their work ethic. Just for the fact that we are females, does not mean that we can't work just as hard as men, or even better. 

Mightier Than The Sword

    In reading the introduction of Mightier Than The Sword, Rodger Streitmatter discusses the concept of the news media shaping history. He explains that he used to teach a course that combined journalism and history. Students were so eager to get into his course becasue they were so interested in how the news media shaped history. In this book, there are 15 epsidoes in American History that have played a role in shaping landmark events. Streitmatter says that he has two audiences. College students, men and women who want to learn more about American news media and American history.

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      He states that college students criticize the news and media for being too poweful. I'm sure that many people can agree with this. A great amount of the popular news that we are given today is very low on information. For example, Charlie Sheen. I'm sure we are all sick of hearing his name constantly. I honerstly don't think that his 'news" should be on the front page of every newspaper. Someones crazy erotic behavior clearly doesn't interest many people. It's all gossip, not informational and educational news.

    In this book, Streightmatter discusses the different events in American History. The first chaper called "Sowing the Seeds of Evolution", the American Revoltion is mentioned. Sam Adams who was the prominent voice of the Boston Gazette wrote hundreds of articles. Adams also had a service in which he named "Journal Of Occurances", it became so huge that his news spread quickly through out the colonies.