by Jeroslyn JoVonn
March 4, 2026
Dorothy Butler Gilliam, the primary Black lady employed at “The Washington Publish,” is among the many prime contributors to a GoFundMe marketing campaign created to assist not too long ago laid-off WaPo staffers.
Retired journalist Dorothy Butler Gilliam, the primary Black lady employed at The Washington Publish, is among the many prime contributors to a GoFundMe marketing campaign created to assist not too long ago laid-off members of the Washington Publish Guild.
After studying concerning the newspaper’s mass layoffs in February, Gilliam rapidly donated $10,000 to the GoFundMe, Washingtonian reviews.
Her contribution joins two different $10,000 donations—the biggest items for the fundraiser—coming from journalist Kara Swisher and an nameless donor.
In early February, The Washington Publish drew backlash after shedding about one-third of its workforce, one of many largest reductions within the paper’s historical past. Because the cuts, which shuttered sections and packages throughout the newsroom, a GoFundMe marketing campaign for Guild members has raised practically $594,000.
“It made me very unhappy, even upset, as a result of I do know many individuals learn the Publish and depend upon the Publish, and this actually is a type of instances once we want some stability within the info that’s accessible,” Gilliam, 89, mentioned of the layoffs.
The retired journalist has stored The Washington Publish near her coronary heart since turning into the paper’s first Black lady reporter in 1961. Gilliam, 89, labored there from 1961 to 1965 earlier than leaving to freelance whereas elevating her three kids. She returned in 1972 as an assistant editor within the Fashion part and remained till retiring in 2003.
Her 2019 memoir, Trailblazer, launched a brand new technology of journalists to her efforts to diversify American newsrooms.
After studying concerning the current layoffs, Gilliam mentioned she felt compelled to assist, explaining she made the donation as a result of she was “impressed by the individuals who work on the paper who proceed to make a big distinction within the metropolis.”
Having confronted discrimination all through her newsroom profession, Gilliam made it her mission to broaden alternatives in journalism. In 1977, she helped set up the Maynard Institute for Journalism Training to coach reporters and push for higher range in American media. She additionally helped form the subsequent technology of reporters by launching the Younger Journalists Improvement Program at The Washington Publish, mentoring native highschool college students for practically twenty years.
However Gilliam mentioned her lifelong purpose of constructing the media “look extra like America” has confronted setbacks in recent times. Following the Trump administration’s robust push in opposition to DEI efforts, newsroom range efforts have slowed, and the Publish‘s layoffs disproportionately impacted journalists of shade, in keeping with the Washington Publish Guild.
Gilliam referred to as the shift in newsroom demographics “very, very disappointing,” including that it’s very important for readers to come across a variety of numerous views. After a greater than 50-year profession that started in the course of the Civil Rights motion, Gilliam mentioned the present second feels “significantly alarming.”
She stays steadfast in her perception within the want for activism within the face of adversity.
“It’s necessary for me to not let the issues which might be occurring cease me from doing these issues that I do know are right, these issues which might be optimistic, these issues that may assist,” she mentioned. “That’s why I’m glad I used to be in a position to make an affordable, financial contribution.”
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