H.G. Watson

Girl Talk A reading list for understanding how people make their own narratives

New Plucky: I talked about some of the books I've read over the last few years that reclaim "girlie media." Also a small rant on people misunderstanding Carol J. Clover and the final girl pluckywithhgwatson.substack.com/p/girl-talk

Actually new idea: get Andy Cohen on the line, we need a Olympics curling reunion

Trend Watch: Killing Journalism Democracy dies not in darkness, but when billionaires stab it in the back

Today in Plucky — journalism has always had a fundamental flaw: capitalism substack.com/home/post/p-...

It's insane we haven't yet had a goofy comedy about the curling world. Will Ferrell, you have work to do.

I’m a fan of whatever this is

These three better race by the end of this

Smart about Smut Begun, the romance book war has

This week, in Plucky: some thoughts about critically engaging with romance books! pluckywithhgwatson.substack.com/p/smart-abou...

A Snow Day Plucky Notes Resources for supporting Minnesotans; what happens when the helpers are hurt

In today's newsletter: some reflections on what it means to look to the helpers, when the helpers are getting killed. And some resources for supporting Minnesotans open.substack.com/pub/pluckywi...

Notes on the Attention Apocalypse Are our brains meant to view this much pain at once?

Are our brains meant to view this much pain at once? I grapple with something I've been thinking about a lot in today's Plucky pluckywithhgwatson.substack.com/p/notes-on-t...

Six Journalism Predictions for 2026 Return of the Luddites, the end of the Meta Ban, and the journalist as influencer

New Plucky: made six media and journalism predictions pluckywithhgwatson.substack.com/p/six-journa...

What I loved in 2025 And what I'm looking forward to in 2026

Emerged from my food coma long enough to write a bit about what made me hopeful in 2025 pluckywithhgwatson.substack.com/p/what-i-lov...

News Team, Thank you for the notes and texts. I apologize for not reaching out earlier. I learned on Saturday that Bari Weiss spiked our story, INSIDE CECOT, which was supposed to air tonight. We (Ori and I) asked for a call to discuss her decision. She did not afford us that courtesy/opportunity. Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices. It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now-after every rigorous internal check has been met is not an editorial decision, it is a political one. We requested responses to questions and/or interviews with DHS, the White House, and the State Department. Government silence is a statement, not a VETO. Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical maneuver designed to kill the story. If the administration's refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we

have effectively handed them a "kill switch" for any reporting they find inconvenient. If the standard for airing a story becomes "the government must agree to be interviewed," then the government effectively gains control over the 60 Minutes broadcast. We go from an investigative powerhouse to a stenographer for the state. These men risked their lives to speak with us. We have a moral and professional obligation to the sources who entrusted us with their stories. Abandoning them now is a betrayal of the most basic tenet of journalism: giving voice to the voiceless. CBS spiked the Jeffrey Wigand interview due to legal concerns, nearly destroying the credibility of this broadcast. It took years to recover from that "low point." By pulling this story to shield an administration, we are repeating that history, but for political optics rather than legal ones.

We have been promoting this story on social media for days. Our viewers are expecting it. When it fails to air without a credible explanation, the public will correctly identify this as corporate censorship. We are trading 50 years of "Gold Standard" reputation for a single week of political quiet. I care too much about this broadcast to watch it be dismantled without a fight. Sharyn

Per NY Times’s Michael Grynbaum on X, this is Sharyn Alfonsi’s email to her “60 Minutes” colleagues in full:

How a Teen Mag Obsession Starts Amazing the school-supplied agenda has held up this well

A pre-Christmas gift: a tour through my tween agenda (yes, that version we all had!) pluckywithhgwatson.substack.com/p/how-a-teen...

I’m beginning to think Susan Faludi was a mystical prophet of some kind

A Spielberg alien movie where the main characters are being chased by the feds?!

bsky.app/profile/lett...

The Deluge of Letters A documentary about Ms. magazine, and why magazines exist at all

A brand new Plucky for you to read on a very cold Sunday (if you're in Toronto.) Today, some thoughts on what unifies Ms. magazine and the teen mags (really) open.substack.com/pub/pluckywi...

Writer vs AI Smackdown If the technology is so good, why do AI companies keep hiring writers?

Some thoughts about the creative efforts AI companies are putting into selling AI as a creative tool, in this weeks newsletter. (Thinking about writing longer on this, so HMU if you have thoughts or want to chat.) pluckywithhgwatson.substack.com/p/writer-vs-...

Matthew Rhys Is In Talks With Netflix Over Adaptation Of Robert Caro’s ‘The Power Broker’ Matthew Rhys is in talks with the streamer over the adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book.

Every nerd you know is screaming deadline.com/2025/12/matt...

Dispatch from the trenches of teen mags The gender politics of the archive + gift guide for the feminist who loves print (part one!)

A brand new edition of Plucky, in which I take you behind the scenes on the frustrations around trying to research teen mags open.substack.com/pub/pluckywi...

Plucky with H.G. Watson | Substack Get Plucky every Sunday for your notes on girl culture, feminist analysis and print media. (And updates on my book about the teen mags of the 90s and 2000s!) 👩‍💻💖. Click to read Plucky with H.G. Wats...

All writers MUST have a newsletter. Who am I to be left out?

Putting a toe back into the media writing game with Plucky, which will cover journalism, arts, and feminism. Out every Sunday and free! pluckywithhgwatson.substack.com

Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era | The Local A suspicious pitch from a freelancer led editor Nicholas Hune-Brown to dig into their past work. By the end, four publications, including The Guardian and Dwell, had removed articles from their sites.

Freelancing is hard enough—but now we’re competing against AI scammers! thelocal.to/investigatin...

What the closure of Teen Vogue means for journalism. Condé Nast folded a beloved magazine that treated youth and feminism as political topics, not trends.

Excellent overview of what the media ecosystem has lost with the "integration" of Teen Vogue into Vogue www.cjr.org/feature/the-...

Correction: 20 years later. Long day, and I'm stuck forever in 2015.

It strikes me often, as I dig through this research, that when it came to cuts, products aimed at young women, that were often honest about real issues teens were facing, were considered expendable.

And here were are again, almost 10 years later.

But between 2004-2009, almost every teen magazine was folded or was left with a ghostly online presence. The only two to survive, until yesterday, were Teen Vogue and Seventeen.

The 2000s arrive. Advertisers do move some money to web, of course. But the audience was still there. Many of the teen mags were already pioneering online content. It should have been an easier transition than it was for other traditional media!

Teen Vogue is often duly credited for its excellent political content. But they didn't pioneer it. Teen mags were always covering issues relevant to adolescents, and breaking barriers — featuring LGTBQ teens with little fanfare, or doing real reporting. (All from Teen People circa 1999 or so)

In the 90s, teen media just EXPLODED. Millenials — then called the echo boom or Gen Y — were a huge cohort with lots of expendable income. Advertisers were eager to get at them. So publishers rebranded to be more like Sassy (YM, Seventeen) or launched new titles (Elle Girl, CosmoGirl, Teen People).

Some thoughts on Teen Vogue, from someone currently writing a book about teen mags.

When publishers make "budget cuts" young women and LGTBQ folks often are the first to suffer

🧵

How many times must I sit through a Jays away game where the home team is having Bark in the Park?

Why do Atkins and Shapiro HATE Toronto dogs?

Look who they are preventing from enjoying hot dogs!!!