Mary Ann Shadd Cary

Mary Ann Shadd Cary (1823 – 1893), an abolitionist, journalist, publisher, teacher, and lawyer, was the first newspaper woman editor. She began publishing a weekly paper, The Provincial Freeman in 1853, whose motto was, “Self –reliance is the true road to independence.”

Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin

Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin (1842 – 1924), a publisher, journalist an civil rights activist, was the editor of the first African-American women’s newspaper, Women Era from 1890-1897.

Ida B. Wells

Ida B. Wells (1862 – 1931), a civil rights activist, journalist, and crusader of justice, was the first writer to document lynching of African-Americans in the South in the 1890s.

Alice Dunnigan

Alice Dunnigan (1906 – 1983), a journalist, civil rights activist, and author, was the first correspondent to secure White House press credentials in 1948.

Belva Davis

Belva Davis (b. October 13, 1932), a television and radio journalist, was the first to become a west coast reporter in 1966, when she was employed at KPIX TV (Chanel 5) in San Francisco.

Ethel L. Payne

Ethel L. Payne (1911 – 1991), a journalist and civil rights activist was known as the “First Lady of the Black Press”, affiliated with the Chicago Defender, was the first radio and television commentator to be employed by a national Network in 1971.

Cathy Hughes

Cathy Hughes (b. 1947) a popular media mogul is the first in the U.S. to head the largest African American owned broadcast company, Radio One, (founded in 1980), which owns and operates over 55 stations nationwide, TV One (a cable television network) and Interactive One (a digital publisher). Radio One whose stock (Symbol: ROIA) is publicly-traded on an exchange became public in 1999.

Pearl Stewart

Pearl Stewart (b. 1950), a journalist and journalism educator, was the first to head a major daily newspaper, the Oakland Tribune in 1992.