MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2025 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Kirby, McMahan, Harkins, Boyd, Hopson, Younger, Fillingane, Wiggins, Polk, Chassaniol, Horhn, Blount, Michel, DeBar, Bryan, England, Simmons (13th), Frazier, Barnett, Thomas
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE 24-YEAR CAREER OF EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS AS A CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT WITH THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AND THANKING HER FOR HER SERVICE TO THE CITIZENS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI.
WHEREAS, we join Statehouse Reporters and the citizens of the State of Mississippi in commending the 24-year career of Emily Wagster Pettus as Mississippi Capitol Correspondent and thanking her for her service; and
WHEREAS, since January 2001 to the present, Emily Wagster Pettus has been the Mississippi Statehouse and Political Reporter for The Associated Press. Her primary responsibility has been covering Mississippi politics and public policy. She also covered court cases, man-made and natural disasters, southern culture and other news; and
WHEREAS, prior to her service with the AP, from May 1990 to January 2001, Emily covered Mississippi politics for The Clarion Ledger. During that time she was a Beat Reporter covering Rankin County, a one-person Gulf Coast Bureau, and worked temporarily as Copy Editor for International Edition Textbooks of USA TODAY. Prior to her service with The Clarion Ledger, she worked with the Vicksburg Evening Post as City Hall Reporter and feature writer; and
WHEREAS, Emily received her BA majoring in Journalism and German in 1989; and
WHEREAS, as news staffs diminish across the country, state government reporters have become much smaller. Those who remain in the role understand the importance of their work in our democracy. That's one reason Emily Wagster Pettus, who has been reporting on Mississippi government since 1994, was selected as the 2018 Silver Em winner, the University of Mississippi's highest award in journalism; and
WHEREAS, the latest Pew Research Center study about statehouse reporters found that around 1,500 U.S. journalists work to inform the public about the actions and issues of state government. Of those, nearly half do it full time, averaging 15 full-time reporters per state. Pettus estimates the number of Mississippi statehouse reporters is equal to the Pew Research Center study's national average of 15; and
WHEREAS, while her main responsibility has been covering the Mississippi Legislature, Pettus said she has covered a variety of stories. In 2005, she covered the trial of Edgar Ray Killen, who was convicted for the 1964 killings of Civil Rights Activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner in Neshoba County. In 2007, she covered the federal trial of Ku Klux Klan member James Ford Seale, who was convicted in the kidnapping that led to the death of two young black men, Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee, in Southwest Mississippi; and
WHEREAS, Will Norton, Dean of the University of Mississippi School of Journalism and News Media, said Pettus is smart, a hard worker and a terrific reporter. "She has more than a quarter-of-a-century experience," Norton said. "She has devoted herself to covering Mississippi. She has reported in-depth, on deadline and always accurately....Emily is a person of integrity. She can be trusted"; and
WHEREAS, Curtis Wilkie, an Overby Center Fellow and Assistant Professor of Journalism, agrees that Pettus has earned the trust of readers; and
WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we recognize the work of a longtime legislative reporter whose enormous civic energy has contributed to the welfare of the citizens of the State of Mississippi:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby pay tribute to the 24-year career of Emily Wagster Pettus as a Capitol Correspondent with The Associated Press and thank her for her service to the citizens of the State of Mississippi and extending the best wishes of the Legislature to Emily for her future success.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Emily Wagster Pettus and her family, forwarded to The Associated Press and be made available to the Capitol Press Corps.