Desperately Seeking Women Readers: U.S. Newspapers and the Construction of a Female Readership

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Desperately Seeking Women Readers delves into the history of U.S. newspapers to examine the construction of female readership. Pages designed specifically for women transformed over time as the newspaper industry looked for ways to capture women readers. Harp investigates the creation and collapse of these pages before considering contemporary case studies to explore the recent revival of sex-specific pages. Interviews with professional journalists reveal the difficulties with defining news for women and the problems inherent in constructing newspapers in a sex-specific way. With a clear and descriptive style, Harp offers a fresh, original topic in communication scholarship. Desperately Seeking Women Readers is ideal for undergraduate and graduate coursework, as well as for curious readers of U.S. newspapers or historical and contemporary women's issues.

Reviews

Dr. Harp uses key moments in U.S. media history to show the women's section as a staple of the newspaper and how it was abandoned, made over, and reintroduced as one industry's impoverished attempt to appeal to women. -- Therese L. Lueck, professor of communication, University of Akron
...this book is a thoughtful follow-up to Kay Mills's A Place in the News: From the Women's Pages to the Front Page (1988). Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals. -- R.A. Logan, emeritus, University of MissouriColumbia * Choice Reviews *
It is very readable and well-organized with excellent chapter and section summaries. There are enough notes and documentation to satisfy the academic. Graduate-level students of journalism or mass-media will find this a fascinating study and an excellent example of what can happen at the intersection of media and culture and how economic systems can impact news content. -- . * American Journalism: A Media History Journal *
A particular strength lies in the integration of economic and editorial issues in analyzing newspaper women's pages from an historical perspective as a product of mass communication in a capitalistic, consumption-oriented society. This work should be of interest to all involved in graduate level journalistic studies. It offers an excellent discussion of the complexities of defining news by gender as well as the profit-driven motivations for doing so. It is an original and stimulating work, presenting insights not available in other literature. -- Maurine H. Beasley, professor emerita, University of Maryland College Park, Past President AEJMC

Author Bio

Dustin Harp is assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin.