University Name: The Impact of Women Journalists on War Reporting

This essay delves into the crucial role of women journalists in war reporting, examining their contributions and the challenges they faced. It focuses on the experiences of prominent figures like Martha Gellhorn, Marie Colvin, and Gloria Emerson, highlighting how they challenged the male-dominated field and shaped public perception of conflict. The essay discusses the unique perspectives women brought to war reporting, emphasizing their focus on the human cost of war, including the experiences of victims and the impact of violence. It analyzes how these journalists dismantled the existing order of hegemonic masculinity in war reportage, offering a gendered lens on issues such as human trafficking and domestic violence. The essay underscores the importance of diverse voices in journalism, particularly in conflict zones, and how women journalists have provided crucial insights often overlooked by mainstream media. It also explores the cultural fascination with women war correspondents and their impact on the field.

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
Media and War
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author Note

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Journalists play a very crucial role to depict events and experiences in front of the world
audience. They contribute immensely to shape the perceptions of the audiences while allowing
them to also perceive the occurrences from a distance. Free speech from across multiple and
diverse voices are very important for a democracy and to protect autonomy and rationale. They
are responsible for probing into events before projecting them to the audience and thus they
interview, verify information and visit scenes where there is an unusual occurrence or crime, to
acquire knowledge about the same and later present them before the audience for their
knowledge. In the context of journalism, war and women are often thought to be on different
pages. Even though, linking women and war may come across as bizarre, bit the roles played by
them, through their journalism, in war hit areas, are etched in history. There can be numerous
examples, to explicate their legendary contribution to the field of journalism and building
perceptions of war. Women journalists have been very influential through World War I, World
War II, Iran, Bosnia and so on. The journalists through those periods of time, had to face greater
troubles as compared to recent times, when there is active participation and representation of
women in the journalism industry. Earlier, the realms of journalism was dominant by the
presence of male journalists, especially in audiovisual media reporting and press. The thesis
statement of the paper is to study the role of Women journalists during War and the issues
faced by female journalists, as were raised by famous figures like Gloria Emerson, Martha
Gellhorn and Marie Colvin.
The depiction of victory and glory, which build up history are depicted and narrated by
males in power and thus creates a masculine memory of the same. The reportage of war have
also been very much dominated by male journalists. Thus, the traditional war reporting were
done by male war reporters which were represented by elite sources. These elite sources

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comprised of state officials, military officers and even politicians, which has created a male
hegemony, which would require more and more female representation in the domain, to break
the existing order (Diva-portal.org. 2020). The reportage from war involve depiction of life and
death, how people sustain war, the motivations of the people fighting war as well as take into
consideration, public opinion. These representations build up a narrative of the culture, which is
country specific at war as well as the high officials and leaders who are at the front, by setting
objectives and goals. It is exactly where the role of gender comes into play, similar to that of real
life picture, yet with much vigor because the reportage is about conflict. The reportage done by
women are still marginalized to this day (Franks and O’neill 2016). Some of the very crucial
aspects of war were reported by the women journalists as they changed the discourse of
reportage of war and shaped the perception of war very differently, from the pre-established
notions and order.
Women are victimized to a great degree during times of conflict and war. Violence is
carried out in various forms which were very conveniently left out for being addressed by the
mainstream journalism and media reportage. This owes to the peace settlements which are still
carried out my men. Wars have been succeeded by forces of human trafficking and domestic
violence, which is an acute aftermath of the same (Diva-portal.org. 2020). The depiction and
probing of these aspects have necessitated the perception of the same through gendered lenses.
Voices of Martha Gellhorn, Gloria Emerson and Marie Colvin are among the first few to have
dismantled the existing order of hegemonic masculinity in War reportage (Diva-portal.org.
2020). A sight of the war, security and peace from a female perspective is very important to
understand the issues of the most gendered field, which is war itself. A woman reporting at the
war helped to offer a perspective on the differences which existed among man and women

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without having to exaggerate or undermine it. Representations are often ambiguous when it
comes to nation, state and ethnicity. And thus, the stories of liberators, heroes, oppressors,
villains, protagonists and antagonist re to be told from women’s perspective too in order to reveal
the hegemonic practices and beliefs which are embedded in the discourse and has taken shape of
being universal. Many women reporters were bold and fierce to report from war zones, when
their male colleagues denied to report on the matters and feared the dangers which awaited in
those regions. This has been exemplified by the women reporters on the front lines, during
various conflicts and wartimes.
Martha Ellis Gellhorn was a legendary journalist, who also was a travel writer and
novelist. Gellhorn was, famous author Ernest Hemming’s third wife. She is regarded as one of
the most prominent and important war correspondents of the twentieth century. Gellhorn
reported almost every crucial conflict to have taken place during her journalist career. She gained
international prominence for her reportages, and is the first woman to have achieved the status of
war correspondent, in a male dominated world. Martha, with her contributions, left the face of
journalism changed for the better and shown women journalists to take up a less travelled path
for challenging the male hegemony in the war journalism. She learnt from Hemingway that he
was on his way to Madrid to report the Spanish civil war, it was then when she decided to go as
well without any prior assignment on the war (Rollyson 2016). Soon she crossed the border to be
in Spain, with just a knapsack, some letters to prove her credentials as authorized by an editor
and some money tucked inside her shoes. It was already the fifth month since the bombardment
has started and see could witness and smell explosives all around ((Meuret 2015). She started
documenting everything she was witnessing (Pbs.org. 2020). Her testimonials of the war zones
are simply written but have a passionate personal touch which enlivens those scenes and

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persuade people how important it is know and understand something of that great magnitude
with objectivity.
The descriptions made by Gellhorn are horrific as she describes boys, who were severely
wounded, some even had lost their arms and limbs, who laid in improvised hospitals. Women
lived in the worst of conditions and children tried to make their way to their schools through
trails of blood. Despite the devastations, the people were brave to face their reality rather than
hiding away from it, even though the skies had fallen (Pbs.org. 2020). Gellhorn described these
victims of war and their ways of survival, in the most profound way, by portraying their living
conditions from their own realistic viewpoints.
Martha’s reportage of the civil war in Spain changed how war was viewed and reported
by journalists (Meuret 2015). Her voice, through the Collier’s magazine was bold and fierce
which defined her vigor and passion for journalism. Martha focused on the people and their
plight and she continued doing so even through the period of World War II. She did not follow
the conventional way of reporting war by focusing on artilleries, tactics, arsenals and generals,
but people. Across the globe there were only 178 women reporters covering war and as the
military did not accredit women, none could gain access to the war zones or the front lines.
Martha has hell bent to report the occurrences and challenged everything that stopped her. She
reached the front lines being a stretcher bearer would offer help to the wounded people. She was
the only woman at the scene reporting war at that time (Library.wustl.edu. 2020). Later she was
arrested and all her credentials were stripped off. She still continued to make her way to the war
zones despite all the securities and interventions as she was hopeful to project the ugly face of
humankind only to remind them what they have done to the world with the barbaric forces.
Gellhorn dared to keep her eyes open when the sight was horrific. She even reported the Vietnam

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War. Martha never wished to be identified as a feminist mascot, which is alike to the thoughts of
Marie Colvin, who came into prominence much later in the twentieth century. Martha did not
give up on hope and humanity until her body and eyes gave out at the age of 81.
Merie Colvin was an American/British journalist who was a foreign affairs correspondent
and worked for The Sunday Times, which is a British Newspaper. Colvin was associated with
the Labor Union in NYC before starting off her career as a journalist. Her career commenced
with United Press International after she completed her graduation. She was posted in Trenton at
the beginning of her career, later tin New York and afterwards in Washington too. Colvin was
promoted to the designation of the Paris Bureau Manger in 1984, after which she joined The
Sunday Times (Maxima-library.org 2020). She was one of the most invincible and unmistakable
when in the war zones. She did not fear the dangers even though she lost an eye to a grenade
attack while reporting the Srilankan Civil War. Rather she wore it like her badge of honor as she
covered up the eye with a patch and sported her spirit in the most majestic way (Graham-
Harrison 2020). She reported from several conflict areas which include East Timor, Chechnya
and even Syria. Her writings were vivid as she reported the war scenes, among which were
places, where only a handful of western correspondents went to.
Colvin is became very prominent for her sharp tongue and wit, which she employed for
her reportages. There were several attempts made by the powerful to silence her, as a lesson to
be sent across to the brave journalists and herself, who took the risky path to depict the lesser
depicted truth and reality. Yet she reigned across the newspapers and television screens with
exemplary pieces of information from the battlegrounds, where she dared to go and collect
information from, even though she was deterred. It was ironic that she dominated a world which
is otherwise dominated by men and later on, was slaughtered by men who thought killing her

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would serve as a lesson for other journalists (Graham-Harrison 2020). Journalism is not that well
represented and perceived always as much as are professions such as politicians or lawyers. Yet
journalists are the ones, who take the risks of being at the war zones, to observe and depict the
reality to the people who are located at distant places but need to know about the harsh realities.
She stands as the symbol of courage, curiosity and valor, which she continued to exhibit till her
last day. She did not even allow the existence of questions such as whether or not to go to war
zones, when the most celebrated reporters left and dreaded to go on the battle field to only report
the scenes through real experiences, rather than assumptions and collected information.
The fact that she was a woman, laid several challenges on her way to be become one of
the most prominent women journalists on the real battle fields. It is even more intriguing in the
modern times, that there is endless fascination and curiosity in the minds of people about the
women who go to war sites, which are heavily dominated by men, who are soldiers, medical
offers and even generals. In other words, in such a world, which is overwhelmingly male
dominated has created a cultural fascination for the work she has done through the years of her
career. One of the primary reasons behind her prominence is how she shattered the macho image
which is associated with the trade. She chose to focus on the consequences which arise when a
person is hit by a metal when there is an ongoing war. She questioned the fate of children and
women, who were helpless and were left to be the victims. She did not report the stories softly
but with vigor to arrive at the heart of the conflict and document the real horrors. She was
absolutely uninterested in the machinery, artillery and helicopters used by the forces but delved
deeper into the lives of people who were most affected. She shed light on the pains and struggles
of individuals and the real cost of war defying the odds and challenges posed by misogyny and
male hegemony in war journalism. Marie Colvins died in 2012, February 22, in Homs, Syria due

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to an explosion which was caused by an improvised devised filled in her nails, which was
planted by terrorists.
Gloria Emerson was also a journalist who was on the front lines of reporting wars and
had witnessed and documented it from the closest of quarters, while most of the women
journalists were not even allowed to set their foot on the war zones. She was an American
journalist who reported some of the most horrific and darkest scenes in the most insightful and
passionate ways (Pbs.org. 2020). She came into prominence as is most known for her
contributions during the Vietnam War as she wrote and reported for The New York Times.
Emerson’s aim was to project the impact which war causes on the lives of people. The cost of
war is not just heavy on the economy but the human impacts caused by war are more dangerous
and need attention, which Emerson did with much finesse (Pbs.org. 2020). The male journalists
who she worked with tended to focus on tactics, strategies, machineries and finances of the war,
she chose a different approach to address war and report the issues from ground. She focused on
the lives of the South Vietnamese citizens and the soldiers who were made the fight the war.
The most extraordinary reportages made by Emerson, include exposing officers from
America who were honored for killing innocent people on the basis of superstition. Even though
she visited several war zones and reported the events from amidst dangers, she was never
injured. Her reportages include conflicts in Central America, Southern Africa and even in the
Middle East. She received George Polk Award for her extraordinary reports on war casualties
Winners and Losers is a book which is written by Emerson, for which she received National
Book Award in 1978 for the series of nonfiction. Emerson was a very tough personality who
challenged the established order and norms, which were set by the men. She was capable of
asserting her knowledge and perception in the things which she regarded as her own territory

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(Maxima-library.org 2020). She had several conflicts with well to do men who tried to teach her
the ways of journalism, as she dealt with such challenges posed by the macho culture of male
journalism. Emerson’s reportages of Palestine were phenomenal and created ripples in the minds
and in the journalistic world as she pointed out that how Palestinians are treated with scorn and
contempt to make them feel helpless, which offended the pro-Israeli groups . She had the most
fitting reply that she dissected what people considered to be a complex issue for their
understanding of the situation in Middle East.
The women journalists have played very crucial roles to depict crisis and war through the
most tormenting times in history even when the domains were heavily dominated by men.
Despite the male hegemony, female journalists have taken up the challenge to defy the ids in
order to depict the real picture of war and the prices people have to pay. The voice of the women
journalists were very important and significant to create and understanding and perception of war
unlike what it was shown by the male journalists, which tended to focus on power and wealth
associated with war, rather than the lives which were affected by such forces. Martha Gellhorn
was the first war women war correspondent to have received international prominence hic paved
the way for others who carried on her legacy to be on the front lines and depicting the untold
truth and reveal the ugly side of humanity. Journalists like Gloria Emerson and Marie Colvin
shattered the macho culture of war reportage and defied misogyny and showing how reportages
are to be done, especially when their male colleagues feared to be on the war sights and they
fought to find their way into such dangerous places on Earth and shed light on the most
important issues to be brought in front of the world audience. The burden of taking the most
crucial decisions are never easy and they carried them forward with much finesse.

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References
Pbs.org. 2020. "Reporting America At War . Gloria Emerson . Life In Saigon | PBS". Pbs.Org.
https://www.pbs.org/weta/reportingamericaatwar/reporters/emerson/saigon.html.
Pbs.org. 2020. "Reporting America At War . Martha Gellhorn . High Explosive For Everyone |
PBS". Pbs.Org. http://www.pbs.org/weta/reportingamericaatwar/reporters/gellhorn/madrid.html.
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