Dorothy Butler Gilliam: American news pioneer

Published: Aug. 2, 2021, 8 a.m.

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In 1961, the Washington Post newspaper hired an African American woman as a reporter for the first time. Dorothy Butler Gilliam was only 24 when she got the job. At the time there were hardly any women or minorities working in newsrooms. Most of her white colleagues wouldn\\u2019t speak to her, taxis wouldn\\u2019t stop for her. Dorothy has been speaking to Farhana Haider about the difficulties she faced as a black woman journalist in 1960s America and her fight to diversify the media in the US.

(Photo Dorothy Butler Gilliam Washington Post newsroom 1962. Copyright Harry Naltchayan, The Washington Post.)

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