The Early Years of Women in Television Project
About the Project Coordinator
This is a project I first considered in early 2003 as
a master’s student at the University of Alabama. I was writing a paper on
local television news from 1948 to 1953, basically during the freeze. I was
surprised to discover the number of women working in television depicted or
referenced in various magazines and other publications of the time. For
instance, The Televisor showed a large number of women at the 3rd
Television Institute in New York in 1948. Although women were certainly not
mentioned or shown on every page of period professional television magazines, I
saw them more than I expected. And based upon Sally Jesse Raphael’s Foreword
in Women Pioneers in Television, I’m not the only one who thought few
women worked in television during those early years. Today, more and more
historians are tracking down those early female television pioneers (see my bibliography
for examples). In fact, based upon those works and a few other resources I’ve
turned up, I already have a list
of almost 100 women who definitely or may have worked in television during those
early years. I think there are even more out there. So earlier this year when I
began the doctoral program in Mass Communications at UA, I asked Dr. Karla Gower
to guide me in this research project. She has been a big source of encouragement
and helped provide me with much needed direction.
Outside of this project, I largely direct my academic interests towards news effects. My master’s thesis looked at how descriptions of Black and White robbery suspects affected audience perceptions of African Americans. I’ve also worked on class projects examining cultivation, entertainment theory and the diffusion of Internet use. Before returning to school, I worked in television myself for about six years: three years in New Orleans and Birmingham in studio production and master control, three years as a news producer in Tuscaloosa. I’m a big fan of New Orleans and love to return whenever I can. I also work on the side as a Mary Kay consultant and really enjoy meeting new people that way. If you have any feedback on this project or this web site, I’d love to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Ginger Miller Loggins