News Lady, published by AuthorHouse, and released on May 29, 2012, is an autobiography written by veteran news and broadcast journalist Carole Simpson. It is a vivid look into her life as an aspiring journalist chronicling her endurance of racism, sexism, and later ageism to attain an illustrious career in the field of broadcast journalism. News Lady highlights the ever evolving Carole Simpson from a rookie reporter in the turbulent 1960’s to one of the most iconic news personalities in the modern day news world. News Lady is a great read for aspiring journalists because it showcases Simpson’s strong character through her reference frame of family, faith, and fearlessness.
News Lady is set in a retrospective style where Simpson begins her story when her career as a news anchor and Senior Correspondent for ABC News was on the decline, and assignments were minimal. The year was 2003. From that pivotal point, the book talks about her childhood and how her family helped to mold her into a responsible person. Simpson learned her work ethic from her mother. Although her mother, a mulatto seamstress from Georgia, had minimal education; she emphasized the importance of education to a young Carole. In her book, she writes: “She (her mother) made it clear that my school was my work and I would have to conquer it myself.” It is evident the valuable lesson stuck with Simpson during her undaunted quest for excellence in journalism.
The biblical saying, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” exemplifies the how Simpson’s faith equipped her to handle the rejections and unfair treatment she received even as she accomplished success in her field. Her grandfather, a white man from Washington, Georgia, was a Baptist minister who taught her valuable lessons about life, especially racism. Although her grandfather was white, his decision to marry a black woman made him inferior as well in southern society. She accounts her “Poppa” saying to her on a trip into town during her family’s visit down south, “I’ll take care of you, but you’ve got to learn how to act around these “crackers.” I found that statement to be anomalous considering he was himself a white man. I believe that lone experience gave Simpson an advantage in her ability to handle the ironies of life.
Her boldness to challenge the status quo when female workers at ABC, led by Simpson, made a surprise presentation at a luncheon to ABC executives magnified her defiant spirit. The presentation addressed the disparity in wages and on air appearances
