The sixth track of this video from the New School addresses the role of food journalism and the women’s pages. While Craig Claiborne certainly had a significant role, giving him such credit for the “invention of food journalism” devalues the work of the women who came before him.

Food writer Betty Fussell noted that Claiborne became in 1957: “the first male food editor in a journalistic world dominated by women.” Yet, in 1950, the industry publication Editor & Publisher reported that the number of newspaper food editors had grown from 240 to 561 in one year. While most of these sections appear to have run in the women’s pages only men were quoted in the article. It was noted that the Associated Press had assigned a man, Jack Ryan, to cover the subject. More work needs to be done in this area to understand the role of gender and food reporting in the 1950s and 1960s.

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The sixth track of this video from the New School addresses the role of food journalism and the women’s pages. While Craig Claiborne certainly had a significant role, giving him such credit for the “invention of food journalism” devalues the work of the women who came before him.

Food writer Betty Fussell noted that Claiborne became in 1957: “the first male food editor in a journalistic world dominated by women.” Yet, in 1950, the industry publication Editor & Publisher reported that the number of newspaper food editors had grown from 240 to 561 in one year. While most of these sections appear to have run in the women’s pages only men were quoted in the article. It was noted that the Associated Press had assigned a man, Jack Ryan, to cover the subject. More work needs to be done in this area to understand the role of gender and food reporting in the 1950s and 1960s.

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