Journalism

The late journalist Cokie Roberts recently visited the Smithsonian to discuss some of the presidents' wives in a new podcast "Portraits." If only, she remarked the First Ladies had been painted when they were young and vivacious, before they had gray hair.

Why Cokie Roberts Admired Dolley Madison

The legendary newswoman, who died at 75, appeared on a Smithsonian podcast earlier this summer to speak about a favorite topic, the first ladies

Thanks to Bly's efforts, conditions at the women's asylum greatly improved

A Nellie Bly Memorial Is Coming to Roosevelt Island

The journalist famously wrote a six-part exposé cataloging the 10 days she spent at an asylum on Blackwell’s Island

Hansel Mieth, photograph from “International Ladies’ Garment Workers: How a Great Union Works Inside and Out"

‘Life’ Magazine’s Earliest Women Photojournalists Step Into Spotlight

A new exhibition highlights images by Margaret Bourke-White, Marie Hansen, Martha Holmes, Lisa Larsen, Nina Leen and Hansel Mieth

Central Park as seen in 1990, a year after the attack that put the "Central Park Five" in the headlines

How Central Park’s Complex History Played Into the Case Against the 'Central Park Five'

The furor that erupted throughout New York City cannot be disentangled from the long history of the urban oasis

American orator, editor, author, abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) edits a journal at his desk, late 1870s.

‘The North Star’ Amplified Black Voices. How a 2019 Reboot of Frederick Douglass’ Paper Hopes to Do the Same

A new outfit sees inspiration from the 19th-century publication that pursued the cause of fighting injustice everywhere

Loss-of-Confidence Project Aims to Foster Culture of Self-Correction in the Scientific Record

Psychologists can submit a statement on how they lost confidence in one of their own findings to help end the stigma around admitting errors

(Mårten Teigen, Museum of Cultural History; Associated Press; Stocktrek Images, Inc. / Alamy; CDC / James Gathany; Philippe Charlier; Brian Palmer; David Iliff via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 3.0; Alamy; Pasini et al. / World Neurosurgery / Elsevier; Donovan Wiley; Library of Congress)

Our Top 11 Stories of 2018

From a 50-year-old political scandal to swarms of genetically engineered mosquitos, here are Smithsonian.com's most-read stories

“Nellie Bly: The Virtual Reality Experience” tracks Bly’s travels from Egypt to Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, San Francisco and beyond

VR Experience Lets You Join Nellie Bly on Her 72-Day Trip Around the World

The Newseum, Vive collaboration catalogues the intrepid reporter’s record-breaking journey

Egyptian journalists hold posters calling for the release from prison detention of Mahmoud Abou Zeid, in front of the Syndicate of Journalists building in Cairo, Egypt, on December 9, 2015.

More Than 250 Journalists Are Languishing in Prisons Around the World, Report Says

The Committee to Protect Journalists documents the worrying trend it characterizes as the "new normal"

P.D. East (above as a young man) proclaimed that his Petal Paper was “a sheet designed to keep everyone happy.” That did not last.

What Made P.D. East the Fearless Wit of Forrest County

The newspaper man's bravery rocked the racist establishment of the South—and heralded a new era of political satire

Charles II attempted to ban public coffeehouses, which he viewed as hotbeds of "fake news" and seditious murmurings

Missouri Exhibition Explores the Centuries-Old Specter of ‘Fake News’

Curator considers three categories of 'fake news': error, hoax and truths deemed false

Standing Rock #2: Oil-pipeline protester Mychal Thompson in North Dakota, in November 2016. Her quote, in Navajo, reads, “To be of the people means you must have reverence and love for all of the resources and all of the beauties of this world.”

Pushed to the Margins, These Brave People Are Pushing Back

From the American West to the Middle East, the powerless face stark choices when confronted by the powerful

“Part of [Wolfe’s] skewering of society was to also be absolutely his own man,” says National Portrait Gallery curator Brandon Brame Fortune. “For him, that meant wearing this white vanilla colored three-piece suit wherever he went.”

Five Things to Know About Tom Wolfe

The late author had an undeniable influence on American writing

Dorothy Parker at a typewriter in 1941

Writing in the Public Eye, These Women Brought the 20th Century Into Focus

Michelle Dean’s new book looks at the intellects who cut through the male-dominated public conversation

Virginia Irwin, in St. Louis in 1939. The Post-Dispatch on the desk next to her typewriter is the edition of Oct. 17, 1939, reporting the German sinking of the British Battleship Royal Oak at Scapa Flow, Scotland.

Journalist Virginia Irwin Broke Barriers When She Reported From Berlin at the End of WWII

Her exclusive dispatches from the last days of Nazi Germany appeared in newspapers around the country, briefly making her a national celebrity

In 2003, Pulitzer-prize winning reporter Les Payne is pictured delivering the traditional charge to University of Connecticut undergraduates during commencement exercises at The Harry A. Gampel Pavilion.

Pioneering Black Journalist Les Payne Has Died at Age 76

The fearless Pulitzer Prize-winning <i>Newsday</i> reporter and editor, who was a founding member of NABJ, paved the way for journalists of color

Major General Cates with War Correspondents Aboard Ship, Febraury 1945. Robert Sherrod is second from left.

The Reporter Who Helped Persuade FDR to Tell the Truth About War

After witnessing the bloody struggle with Japan, Robert Sherrod thought the public should face the 'cruel' facts

Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks in "The Post."

What <em>The Post</em> Gets Right (and Wrong) About Katharine Graham and the Pentagon Papers

A Smithsonian historian reminds us how Graham, a Washington socialite-turned-publisher, transformed the paper into what it is today

Marianne Means during a 1983 interview with C-SPAN's Brian Lamb.

Pioneering Political Journalist Marianne Means Has Died at Age 83

The first woman assigned to cover a president's activities on a full-time basis, Means wrote a widely syndicated column about the goings-on in Washington

A cameraman at the coronation of King George V.

Why Do We Call TV Watchers ‘Viewers’?

It all goes back to a quirky BBC subcommittee working in the 1930s to change the English language

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