Torre was probably the first woman journalist to go to jail for refusing to reveal a news source. She always stood by her principles, and fought for the rights of journalists to protect where their information came from.
Torre got her first job because she was assertive and tricky. After she graduated from high school, she went around to many New York City newspapers to apply for a job as a copygirl, but they all turned her away at the front desk. Finally, she pretended she was a student who needed to personally interview the editor of the New York World-Telegram and Sun. When she got into his office, she confessed that she really was there because she wanted a job. The editor laughed and hired her.
Torre later became associate editor for the New York Herald Tribune, and wrote a syndicated column in addition to general reporting and reviewing. In 1959, a television executive told her that he thought a famous actress didn't want to do a TV special because she thought she was toofat. Torre quoted him in her column, but didn't reveal his name because she knew he could lose his job for saying something like that. The actress sued the paper, and the courts demanded that Torre tell them the executive's name. She refused, and her paper supported her, since many other states at that time had laws protecting journalists. She was put in jail for 10 days, but never revealed her source.
Torre believed strongly in the rights of journalists, so much that she was willing to go to jail for it. Many respected leaders of social movements, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., went to jail for their beliefs. Lots of people devote their lives to social change. Is there anything you believe is worth fighting for? What would you do to help a cause you believed in? Do you think people who break the law should be put in jail no matter what? Young people take action all the time, like supporting recycling programs and cleaning up trash to keep the environment clean. Do you have clubs at your school that do things directly to change something? Join a club whose beliefs and actions you support, or start one of your own.