Washington Women in Journalism

Washington Women in Journalism

Photo credit: Courtesy of Washingtonian

“I would also like to take a special minute to recognize some of our awardees from 2020 and 2021 because while everyone cheered them on zoom, it’s just not the same thing,” said Gloria Dittus who co-hosted the 9th Washington Women in Journalism Awards at the Anderson House with Cathy Merrill, Publisher of Washingtonian. “My dear colleague and my very great friend Cathy could not be here today. I think she’s biking in Israel with some friends, so we’re honored to have one of her most important staff members help us today with introducing our honorees and presenting the award.”

Gloria Dittus: Chair, Story Partners

“I’m Sherri Dalphonse, Executive Editor of Washingtonian.  We are very honored to recognize four extraordinary women journalists. Our first is Ayesha Rascoe the new host of NPRs Weekend Edition on Sunday. Rascoe had her start in Durham, North Carolina as a teen writer for her hometown Durham Harold Sun, her first byline, a story about an award-winning {barrel racer}. And as part of that research, she pointed out she even got to ride a horse.  Ayesha Rascoe is a 2022 starter to watch.”

Ayesha Rascoe

“I am beyond honored to be included in this illustrious group of women being highlighted tonight. This is the first professional award of my life so this means a lot, especially because so much of the time I feel like that little girl in Durham, North Carolina and that little girl would be in awe of tonight.  I’m so glad to be accepting an award that’s focused on women journalists ’cause in my career it really has been the women who have lifted me up who have rooted for me, who have boosted me. Seeing other women thrive only opens my eyes to more possibilities.”

Kathleen Parker

“So writing a twice weekly column since 1987 is really hard work. That is roughly by our calculation 1500 opinion pieces or put another way, 1.3 million printed words. The Washington Post’s Kathleen Parker has written for five newspapers, numerous magazines, is a book author and a popular guest on a host of cable news programs as well as a regular guest on NBC’s Meet The Press. In 2010 she received a Pulitzer for commentary based on her perceptive, often witty columns on an array of political and moral issues.  Kathleen Parker is the 2022 outstanding journalist in print.”

“I’m not gonna bore you with four or five decades of my life, which is fascinating to me, of course,  but I’m really delighted to be here. I do want to say that at my first job there were only three females in the newsroom and I wore a tie to work. I really did that for the next three papers. I finally learned that being a female journalist was not a bad gig and I traded my tie for a string of pearls. I found that being sort of a little demure Southern gal was helpful when I knew secretly that an assassin beat in my heart. And so I will say this: I thank you very much for this lovely award. I’m proud to be among these wonderful women and all those who proceeded me.”

Kaitlan Collins

“Kaitlan has become a well known chief White House correspondent for CNN. When she took on that role last year at 28, she one of the youngest for any major media network. But don’t let her age fool you. She herself even made headlines when asking tough questions of the prior administration and they banned her from a rose garden event, maybe because she was known to get under their skin by starting her day, very early, monitoring Twitter for those sudden White House firings. She herself now has a whopping 1.2 million followers. Kaitlan Collins is Washington’s 2022 outstanding broadcaster.”

“When Cathy emailed me to tell me that I was getting this award as the outstanding journalist in broadcast television, that I was (excited) to be included among these women. I’ve been covering the White House for five years now. And of course, as you’ve heard, it has been quite the adventure. I have the distinct honor of having been yelled at by one and two presidents now, as many of you know, and I feel honored to be here, but also I feel very humble because I do recognize my age.”

Martha Raddatz

“Award winning journalist Martha Raddatz has spent more than two decades at ABC News covering national security, politics, informed policy and she’s been chief White House correspondent and co-anchor of This Week with George Stephanopoulos. She has reported from the Pentagon, the State Department and the White House. Her decades of foreign policy coverage also means she is at a front row seat to conflicts around the world. That is a lot of travel from a girl born in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Her book, Long Road Home, a story of war and family, made both The New York Times and The Washington Post best seller lists.The Washington Post described the book as ‘a masterpiece of literary nonfiction that rivals any war related classic that has preceded it’.”

“My career started in school studying history, arithmetic and of course in my era home economics. We were required to learn how to sew on buttons, right? Make pancakes. Wow. Do the laundry. I never understood why they called it home economics when in fact it was jobs we were learning to do that we would not get paid for that men did not have to do. I was raised by a single mom who worked as a secretary and she actually worked in the newsroom. She was a newsroom secretary and she not only did all the bosses’ work, she sewed his buttons on. I think her unhappiness led to my happiness.  So like so many of you here, I think we have our mothers to thank for pushing us forward and making us the women we are today.”

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