Ruth Ashton Taylor

Infobox journalist
name = Ruth Ashton Taylor


caption =
birthname = Ruth Ashton
birth_date =
birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
age =
death_date =
death_place =
education = Degree in journalism from Columbia University
occupation = Television Journalist
alias =
gender = female
status =
title =
family =
spouse = John Taylor
children =
relatives =
ethnic =
salary =
networth =
credits =
agent =
URL =

Ruth Ashton Taylor (née Ruth Ashton) is a notable American television and radio newscaster with a career in broadcasting that spanned over 50 years. The first female newscaster on television in Los Angeles and the West Coast, she is influential on women in the field and well-known to the public for her broadcasts. She has received many awards and honors, including a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Biography

A native of Los Angeles, Ashton Taylor graduated in 1939 from Long Beach Polytechnic High School. [citenews | title = Famous students from Poly High School | url = http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LB&p_theme=lb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAE9059ADE70EAD&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM | date = 1995-08-06 | work = Press-Telegram | accessdate = 2008-09-08] She relocated to New York City thereafter, receiving a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University in 1944.Biagi, Shirley. (1992-08-19) [http://wpcf.org/oralhistory/tayint.html Ruth Ashton Taylor introduction] Washington Press Club Foundation. Retrieved 2008-09-03.]

Following her graduation, Ashton Taylor took a job as a news writer at CBS radio, taking a place among the original members of the documentary unit of Edward R. Murrow. [citenews | title = Not the retiring kind: if Ruth Ashton Taylor has quit, it's news | work = Daily News of Los Angeles | date = 1989-06-28 | url = http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LA&p_theme=la&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EF51EF72F09F9DC&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM | accessdate = 2009-09-08] . When she first began as a writer and producer there, she had no thoughts of going on air as, to her knowledge, it simply wasn't done in major news markets.citenews | first = Mike | last = Conway | title = A guest in our living room: the television newscaster before the rise of the dominant anchor | work = Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media | date = Sept. 2007 | accessdate = 2008-09-08 | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m6836/is_3_51/ai_n25012579/pg_12 ] According to her, CBS management didn't want to broadcast women because they "just didn't like those squeaky voices". However, by 1949, Ashton Taylor was on the air, interviewing such notable individuals as Albert Einstein. Eventually, she was transferred to a religious program, and, disappointed by her exclusion from news broadcasting, she left CBS radio in New York and returned to Los Angeles.

In 1951, she became the first woman in Los Angeles or on the West Coast on television news when she took a job with LA's KNXT-TV (now KCBS). Although she was originally hired to cover the "Women's Angle", she has indicated in interviews that the lack of conventional roles for women in broadcasting gave her considerable freedom in the stories she selected to cover.citenews| last = Magers | first = Paul | date = 2008-03-13 | url = http://cbs2.com/local/Ruth.Ashton.Taylor.2.674219.html | title = Whatever happened to Ruth Ashton Taylor | publisher = cbs2.com | accessdate = 2008-09-08.] In 1958, she left briefly to work as a public information officer at a college before returning in 1962. She officially retired in 1989, but continued occasionally contributing into her 70s. As both a news reporter and a host of programming, she became an influential figure on subsequent female journalists, with numerous industry awards and a career that included notable interviews with such diverse people as Jimmy Carter and Jimmy Durante.

During her time in broadcasting, Ashton Taylor became a widely known and celebrated figure. In 1983, "The Los Angeles Times" indicated that she had a reputation as "one of the best newspeople in television".citenews | first = Jerry | last = Cohen | date = 1983-05-07 | title = Growing older in America | work = Los Angeles Times | url = http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/671814192.html?dids=671814192:671814192&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=May+07%2C+1983&author=JERRY+COHEN&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Growing+Older+in+America&pqatl=google | pages = A1-A2 | accessdate = 2008-09-08] A 2007 article in the "Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media" described her as "one of the most recognizable people on radio and television in Los Angeles". She was given a Star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1990. [citenews | title = TV Journalist reluctantly becomes a Hollywood Star | work = Daily News of Los Angeles | date = 1990-12-11 | url = http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LA&p_theme=la&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EF6113DB2435541&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM | accessdate = 2008-09-08] Other notable honors include a Governors Award for Lifetime Achievement bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and a Diamond Achievement Award from Women in Communications (1984). The Good News Foundation, an organization of women journalists in Los Angeles, offers in her name to female students intending a career in journalism a scholarship which not only provides financial assistance but also the mentorship of a working professional. [http://www.thegoodnewsfoundation.org/Ashton_Scholarship_App.pdf Ruth Ashton Taylor Scholarship application] , Good News Foundation. Retrieved 2008-09-08.] The organization cites her as "a true pioneer in broadcast journalism—a woman who paved the way for others to follow."

References

External links

* [http://cbs2.com/local/Ruth.Ashton.Taylor.2.674219.html 2008 interview] , CBS