Pauline Frederick (journalist)

Pauline Frederick (February 13, 1908 – May 9, 1990) was an American journalist in newspapers, radio and television, as well as co-author of a book in 1941 and sole author of a book in 1967.

in her nearly 50-year career, she covered numerous stories ranging from politics and articles of particular interest to women to military conflicts, and public interest pieces.

Pauline Frederick was born in Gallitzin, Pennsylvania, on February 13, 1908, although several sources state the year as 1906.

Her father was Mathew Frederick, a postmaster, and her mother was Catherine Stanley.

Her family later relocated to Harrisburg, where she attended high school.

Frederick actually began her journalism career as a high school student, winning essay contests and writing for her school and local newspapers.

She was her class valedictorian when she graduated in 1926.

When Frederick was only eighteen years old, she had to undergo a complete hysterectomy, which left her unable to conceive children.

Pauline decided that since she would never be a mother, she would devote all of her time and energy to a career.

Upon graduation from high school, she entered American University in Washington, D.C., where she received her bachelor's and master's degrees in political science and international law.

“A history professor, however, advised her to ‘leave the law to others’ and go back to journalism". After finishing college at American University, Pauline followed the professor's advice pursuing a career in journalism with great determination, “and within four years she began to receive invitations to White House press events”.

Her career extended from the 1930s until 1981; she is considered one of the pioneering women in journalism.

In the mid-1930s, "Frederick was covering the State, War, and Navy Departments for the United States News (later renamed U.S. News & World Report)".

A short time after that Frederick was employed as a journalist for the North American Newspaper Alliance.

While working for the NANA she had many articles published in the New York Times.

The first decade of her journalistic career was a hard-fought grind of hard work and determination.

Frederick recalled her early experiences breaking into journalism: “I tried every way I could to convince the powers that be that I could broadcast news… This was very difficult because it was unheard of for a woman to want to enter this man’s world”.

Eventually, she would enter the masculine world of broadcast journalism full-time and excel in it.

In 1931, Frederick set out to get a journalism job and she took an interesting approach: “Because few important men in politics at the time would be interviewed by a woman, she decided to interview the men’s wives”.

She interviewed the minister of Czechoslovakia's wife and the wife of the then ambassador of China with hopes that she could sell these interviews and gain some attention in the journalism industry.

This is when she may have conceived the idea that she later turned into a book of interviews titled The First Ladies of the World.

Hoping for a job, Frederick sent her articles about these women to the editor of the former Washington Star; however, the editor believing that Frederick was the famous actress Pauline Frederick, hired her to boost his newspaper's circulation.

“Though not the Frederick he wanted, the Star’s editor was so impressed by her writing that he bought both of the articles she offered and gave her a job churning out a weekly feature”.

Frederick began writing articles for the Washington Star.

In 1938, with her interest in electronic communications, she accepted a job as a part-time aide assisting in writing scripts for then-NBC Blue radio reporter H. R. Baukhage.

Her journalism career in radio began in 1939, when NBC Radio's director of women's programs, Margaret Cuthhert, heard of Frederick's interviews with diplomats’ wives and thought they would make a good radio feature.

Frederick took the job and her interview with the minister of Czechoslovakia's wife was heard on air shortly after Hitler's assault on Czechoslovakia.

Frederick continued to work as a newspaper and radio journalist in Washington, D.C., during the next seven years.

She authored four chapters in the book America Prepares for Tomorrow.

Frederick's career as a serious news journalist began to gain momentum and take off.

In April 1945, Frederick got a tremendous career boost when she was given the opportunity to travel “as a war correspondent on a journalist’s tour of North Africa, Asia, and China nineteen countries in all”.

Her first foreign broadcast was done from China.

Also on that trip she reported on a USO show with a male-only cast.

She was later quoted in 1949 as describing the show as, “the roughest thing I ever heard”.

Frederick is credited with being the first female reporter to broadcast from China.

After her war correspondence tour she ended her radio relationship with NBC but continued reporting for newspapers and ABC radio, covering the Nuremberg Trials.

However, Frederick only reported “on the air once—when Hermann Göring took the stand and the first-string male reporter was busy doing something else”.

Despite her respected work, journalism was still a male-dominated business, and Pauline was not one of the boys.

She later remarked on a comment by a male industry executive that a women's voice does not carry authority: “I am terribly sorry that I didn’t have courage enough in those days to tell him that I knew his wife’s voice carried plenty of authority in his house”.

Frederick's desire for a career as a news journalist remained strong even though she had been denied a job by NBC and CBS.