Women’s History Month: Colleen “Koky” Dishon
Day 17 of Women’s History Month features Colleen “Koky” Dishon.
She started her career covering hard news for the Associated Press during World War II. After the war, she was a progressive women’s page editor in Columbus, Ohio, and Milwaukee before moving on to Chicago. She was hired by the Chicago Tribune in 1975 and in 1982, Dishon was named associate editor, becoming the first woman listed in the Chicago Tribune’s masthead.
At the Tribune, Dishon created 17 special sections that were often quickly copied at newspapers across the country. In the words of Tribune Managing Editor Ann Marie Lipinski: “Whether you have ever worked for Koky, or ever heard her name before today, if you are a newspaper reader, you are the beneficiary of her genius. She defined modern features coverage with her work in Chicago, creating the so-called ‘sectional revolution’ in American newspapers.”
According to former Chicago Tribune newspaper executive Jim Squires, “For someone just 5 feet tall, Koky Dishon was as close as you can come to being a giant in journalism. At one point, she could have been the most influential woman in journalism.”
Here is a link to an article I wrote about Koky.
