[foldr]

Stranger Things is set in the eighties. It's not that much of a stretch to have a local newspaper run by men who don't take a 19 year old female intern very seriously. It also has an obvious function as a plot device, since it would be kinda boring if Nancy instantly figured it all out and succeeded in getting her story published.

[rhegart]

Agreed, but that was so unrealistic it was like a 19 year old far left activist’s dream of sexist white men, not reality or even exaggerated reality.

[foldr]

I don't see that at all. The sexist component, while definitely there, is quite subtle. Nancy is an intern, and most likely would not have been taken seriously if she were a man either. After all, she's young, has no reporting experience, is not employed as a journalist, and is telling an extremely implausible story.

Stranger Things is not a realistic show. Why should its depictions of the men at the newspaper have to be realistic in any case?