Brenda Starr, Girl Reporter, Laid Off Like The Rest Of Us

After 70 years in journalism, trailblazing comic strip character Brenda Starr is retiring. The red haired reporter got her start in the pages of the Chicago Tribune back in 1940, when female reporters of the flesh and blood persuasion were few and far between. Starr leaves the profession far more inclusive than she found it – according to the American Society of News Editors, women now make up about 37% of American newsrooms.

NPR has details on the girl reporter’s retirement:

Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich and artist June Brigman said they’ve decided it was time to end their work on the seven-day-a-week strip which appears in about three dozen newspapers. The final episode of the soap opera cartoon created by the late Dale Messick will be published Jan. 2.

“It’s been an incredible privilege to be able to live life through this medium all these years,” said Schmich, who has written the comic for 25 years. “I’m a reporter, above all, so I always use Brenda in a funny way to report things.”

Here’s hoping for a generous severance package.

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