American Journalism Historians Association honors Finneman

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BROOKINGS – South Dakota State University Assistant Professor Teri Finneman recently won two awards from the American Journalism Historians Association. Finneman won the William David Sloan Award for Outstanding Research Paper and the Maurine Beasley Award for Outstanding Paper on a Women’s History Topic. She received the awards at the association’s annual convention in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Finneman’s entry, “‘The Greatest of Its Kind Ever Witnessed in America’: The Press and the 1913 Women’s March on Washington,” examines press coverage of the 1913 women’s march on Washington to foster a better understanding of how the press covers women’s activism and social movements in general.

“To win these awards as a junior faculty member is a tremendous honor, and I’m particularly grateful for the organization’s recognition of women’s history overall this year,” said Finneman, who works in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication. “The stories of what women have accomplished throughout U.S. history are too often left out of classrooms and textbooks, so my research has a strong emphasis on giving them a voice.”

Finneman began working on her research article after more than 1 million women participated in women’s marches in early 2017 to protest the inauguration of Donald Trump and to promote women’s rights and civil rights.

She is now focused on press coverage of the suffrage movement, as the United States will mark the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in 2019-20.

Founded in 1981, the American Journalism Historians Association seeks to advance education and research in mass communication history. Members work to raise historical standards and ensure that all scholars and students recognize the vast importance of media history and apply this knowledge to the advancement of society.