THE REPORTER – Emma Matheson

Emma Matheson is a fictional character based on the real-life reporter, Marjorie C. Driscoll,* who originally worked for William Randolph Hearst and then in 1921 joined the San Francisco Chronicle and eventually moved to the Los Angeles Times. A graduate of Stanford University in 1913, Driscoll wrote an article in The Stanford Illustrated Review in 1920, titled “In the Newspaper Field” that describes the features of a successful reporter, including the mantra “know a little of everything.” The values attached to Emma came from this article.

Emma, the character, was raised by her father, Hiram Matheson, after her mother died in childbirth. Her father was a long-time newspaperman following in the footsteps of his father who had been a Civil War reporter. He owned a Sacramento newspaper where Emma learned about reporting and writing.

As a result, Emma was less biased in the expectations of females of her time and more inclined to pursue her own interests rather than those that she was expected to pursue. She did not notice that she was different than other females. She loved to write and much of her time was spent over a typewriter that her father gave her.

She was always sure of herself. She believed that she was a good writer and a good reporter given that she was taught by her father and worked at his paper ever since she could remember. Her father, however, insisted that she attend college. He believed this was the best way for a female to learn about the world outside of Sacramento.

So she went to UC Berkeley where she received her B.L. degree in social sciences. She also experienced the bias against women prevalent in her time. In 1911, women students at Cal were excluded from a number of activities by campus tradition or rules. She got her job at the San Francisco paper after her father connected her to a city editor who knew the family.