| Ethel Simpson | |
| Birth Date: | 2 September 1926 |
| Nationality: | Scottish |
| Known For: | being a pioneering woman journalist |
Ethel Simpson (2 September 1926 – 12 December 2017) was a pioneering Scottish journalist. She worked to break down gendered barriers within journalism and was one of the first female chief reporters at the Aberdeen Press and Journal.[1]
Ethel was born in Banff on 2 September 1926 to a farming family.[2] She attended Keithhall Primary School and then Inverurie Academy. After completing a shorthand typing course at Webster's College, she joined the Aberdeen Press and Journal in 1944 at age seventeen.
Ethel then became a Junior Reporter for the Aberdeen Press and Journal in 1945, the first woman to do so.[3] In 1955 and 1956, Ethel spent three months on a 10,000 tour of North Africa, writing about her travels.https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/news/local/huge-inspiration-and-pioneer-of-women-in-journalism-dies-aged-91/ She worked her way up, eventually becoming the Chief Reporter of the Journal in 1975. Ethel pressed for gender equality in the newsroom, and protested when a female reporter was told to go home and change into a skirt.[4] She retired in 1986.
Ethel had a daughter, Emma, and two grandsons. She was a monarchist and a Conservative.