Birddogs and Tough Old Broads

Birddogs and Tough Old Broads: Women Journalists of Mississippi and a Century of State Politics, 1880s-1980s documents the experiences of women journalists covering Mississippi state politics. The evolution of the modern-day political journalist, particularly for southern women, can be seen in their struggles and accomplishments.

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Birddogs and Tough Old Broads: Women Journalists of Mississippi and a Century of State Politics, 1880s-1980s documents the professional experiences and observations of more than a dozen journalists, all women, all covering Mississippi state politics over the course of a century—from the 1880s, right after the end of Reconstruction (when newspapers were the primary source of information) to the 1980s, a time period marked by steady declines in both news revenue and circulation, and the emergence of corporate journalism, led by media conglomerates like Gannett.

The author argues that the experiences of the women journalists documented in this book reflect broader social, political, legal, and cultural struggles and changes in both the South and the nation during the late 19th and 20th centuries. In fact, the evolution of the modern-day political journalist, particularly for southern women who aspired to such a position, can be seen in their struggles and accomplishments. Accordingly, this book adds the existing research regarding women’s contributions to twentieth century journalism, which has omitted the experiences of women state capitol and political reporters.