Publications and Research
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2025
Abstract
This article is a retrospective history on Newsweek magazine's December 8, 1975 cover story "Why Johnny Can't Write" by Merrill Sheils. Based on interviews with Sheils and her researcher Frederick V. Boyd, I detail the context from which this article emerged, and the role that the two employment and gender discrimination lawsuits at Newsweek in the early 1970s played in shaping this article's publication. I also examine the legacy of "Why Johnny Can't Write" within the field of writing studies.
Comments
Available online, and originally published in Composition Forum: https://compositionforum.com/issue/56/new-illiteracy/