The Job of a Newspaper Food Editor
I am working on a study of food sections in metropolitan newspapers in the World War II years through the 1970s that documents the intersection between gender, food and communities. What seemed at first to be exceptions to David Kamp’s “Jell-O abusing” women’s page journalists, it quickly became the norm. There was a clear community of women who took food seriously as a beat and as a public service. These newspaper food editors wrote for the home cook and the restaurant goers while keeping the advertisers at bay. Unlike the status of magazines where advertising and editorial share a friendly relationship, newspaper food editors were independent. As Dorothy Jurney, an editor with the Knight Newspaper chain noted in regard to food journalism: “I thank God for that separation of the editorial and advertising departments.” At the Louisville newspapers, the former managing editor said that food news was treated the same way that all news was handled – with no input from the advertising department.
These food editors tested recipes, reviewed restaurants and explained new products. They wrote about rations, consumer news and nutrition research. As technology changed how food was prepared, the food editors evaluated the ease and quality for her readers. This is how the Chicago Tribune food editor Ruth Ellen Church described her job in 1955 survey as she supervised a staff of five home economics, a secretary and a kitchen assistant:
“We do most of our own food photographs, conduct a daily $5 favorite recipe competition, maintain a mail and telephone service to homemakers, scout for what’s new in the kitchen, test recipes and such. In addition, I write a daily and Sunday column, and supervise the publication of a number of supplements each year, notably the Thanksgiving and Christmas special sections.”
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