The 'Good Girls Revolt' Magazine History Is True

Amazon Studios' new TV series Good Girls Revolt follows a group of young women struggling to beat the sexism of the journalism industry in the late 1960s. And, while most of the characters on the series are original creations, is the outlet where they all work, News of the Week a real magazine? The series absolutely has a real inspiration. However, let me begin by saying a bit of a tongue-twister: Good Girls Revolt is based on a non-fiction book of the same name, which is about Newsweek. However, the show's magazine, News of the Week, is fake, even though it sounds a lot like News of the World, which is a real paper — but not the one featured in the book. Long story short: News of the Week isn't real, but its fictionalized version of the true Newsweek story will be told in the drama.

In a combination review and retrospective, Stav Ziv wrote for Newsweek about how the magazine's real history informs the new series. "In the 1960s, a woman’s career trajectory at Newsweek could include roles as a mail girl, clipper, researcher and reporter. But almost uniformly, that’s where it ended," Ziv wrote. According to another Newsweek article, in 1970, 46 women sued the outlet in order to fight that accepted way of doing things, and they were successful. Bustle reached out to Newsweek for comment on the original lawsuit and the show portraying it now, but has not yet heard back. The lawsuit resulted in a settlement in which Newsweek agreed to provide equal employment opportunities to women.

Other details from Newsweek's history have been taken in order to add more authenticity to the series. Nora Ephron did indeed once work there as a "mail girl." Ephron, quoted by that second Newsweek article, explained that in the early '60s, "It was a nice place — especially if you were a man." Ephron, who is portrayed by Grace Gummer in Good Girls Revolt, is already confident in her writing abilities, and is even depicted walking out of her menial job in the season trailer. Another true-to-life character on the show is real congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, who will be portrayed by Joy Bryant in the series. Norton represented the women of Newsweek when they sued in 1970 and led them to a legal victory.

Though it features mostly fictional characters working at a fictional magazine, Good Girls Revolt is all about the real fight the 46 women led at Newsweek when they stood up for their careers back in 1970.

Image: Amazon Studios