Journalist Martha Rountree - Research Paper Example

“At a time when the female's presence in television production was routinely dismissed as unfeminine, Martha proved that there is not only a niche for the female broadcaster; there is also potential for quality in any commentary regardless of gender”(Martha). Even though, Martha had no college degree, she mesmerized the anchor and journalist profession with her immense abilities and talents. This paper briefly analyses her life and contributions. At the age of sixteen, Martha’s father died which put her in major troubles in finding enough money for the completion of her education.

She accepted a job in Columbia Record newspaper, mainly to find enough money for her education. However, she could not finish her college studies because of financial reasons. Since she started her career in a newspaper, she decided to continue her career in journalism and worked for many prominent publications like The Tampa Tribune in Tampa, Florida. In 1938, she resigned from Tampa tribune and moved to New York City and started her career as a freelance writer. Along with her freelance writing career, she started a production company with the help of her sister which produced singing commercials and transcribed programs in 1944.

Martha and her sister Ann succeeded in producing many unique programs which caught the attention of the public at that time. The interviews of women celebrities conducted by Martha and her sister gained much publicity and popularity in America during this period. Her first marriage was to Albert N. Williams, Jr. in 1941 which lasted around seven years and ended in 1948. She had no children in this affair. “Ms. Rountree married Oliver M. Presbrey in 1952. Mr. Presbrey, an advertising executive, died in 1988” (Files).

She had two daughters in this affair. Rountree created a new radio show, called The American Mercury Presents: Meet the Press, on June 24, 1945. However, Meet the Press program which she started on NBC television network, on November 6, 1947 is believed to be her master piece even now. Rountree developed her own ideas and implemented it successfully in this programs which resulted in huge popularity of this program. The major idea of this program was to have public figures respond to irritating questions without prior preparation.

People enjoyed the agony and confusion of the celebrities in dealing with the unexpected questions of Martha, very much. Currently meet the press is the longest running television programs in the history of television. It is in the 57th year, at present. President Kennedy once referred to "Meet the Press" as the "fifty-first state," and since the Kennedy presidency, every man who has occupied the Oval Office has appeared on "Meet the Press" during his career. Every Sunday morning for 57 years strong, in times of peace or war, "Meet the Press" is welcomed into the homes of Americans to analyze, discuss and review the news of the week -- and to look ahead to the week to come -- with world-renowned guests (Martha).

Foreign policy was the major theme discussed in the meet the press programs while interviewing political celebrities. Some of the prominent world leaders interviewed on this program are; Fidel Castro, Francois Mitterrand, Indira Gandhi, David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, Ferdinand Marcos, Jean Monnet, Mikhail Gorbachev, Anwar el-Sadat, Yitzhak Rabin, King Hussein of Jordan, Hamid Karzai, Pervez Musharraf, King Abdullah of