HACKETTE

noun (Lifestyle and Leisure) In media slang, a female journalist. (Dismissive unless used by a fellow journalist.) Etymology: Formed by adding the feminine suffix -ette (as in usherette, but which also often has patronising or pejorative connotations) to hack. As well as being a pejorative word for a writer (implying poor-quality writing produced to a deadline), hack is used among journalists as a positive term of solidarity for all those who work in in-house journalism. History and Usage: A term coined by the British satirical paper Private Eye, apparently to describe Emma Soames, hackette remains a word particularly favoured by this source, although it has also appeared in a number of the more serious newspapers and has already found its way into fiction. It is principally a British usage, but began to appear in US sources as well from about the middle of the eighties. There are distinguished female professors..., television speakerenes, Fleet Street hackettes, and publishers. Tim Heald Networks (1983), p. 167 One hackette...was ordered to ring up travel writer Bruce Chatwin...and interrogate him. Private Eye 3 Apr. 1987, p. 8 The worlds of newspapers and publishing are unbuttoned, and hackettes can wear pretty well anything. The Times 11 May 1987, p. 12