The Mississippi Legislature on Thursday honored longtime, award-winning journalist Emily Wagster Pettus for her decades of legislative news coverage.
The Senate and House passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 505 honoring Pettus. The resolution notes, “Emily steadfastly continued to cover Mississippi news, telling citizens across the state and nation about events far and wide and helping to strengthen our democracy.” It also praised her fair balanced coverage and said, “Emily always took time to mentor and share her knowledge of Mississippi politics with new reporters sent to the Capitol to cover the daily activity of the Legislature and state leaders.”
Pettus recently left the Associated Press where she served as Mississippi Capitol correspondent. She formerly worked for the Clarion Ledger and the Vicksburg Evening Post.
“It was an honor and a privilege to cover the Legislature for 31 regular sessions and no telling how many special sessions — and let me tell you they are not all that special,” Pettus told lawmakers during a ceremony in the state Senate, where she received a standing ovation.
Pettus noted she has covered the administrations of five governors, six lieutenant governors and four speakers of the House.
“Thank you for your service, and we will sorely miss you,” Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann told Pettus on the Senate floor.
Sen. Hob Bryan of Amory on Thursday said, “Her reporting has always been fair and accurate. I don’t think anyone reading her reporting had any idea of her political views, just the way it used to be.”
Sen. Hillman Frazier of Jackson, in his 45th year in the Legislature, said he’s seen many reporters at the Capitol, “But none stood out to me more than Emily … Thank you for a job well done.”
Pettus, addressing the Senate on Thursday, urged lawmakers to support open government and transparency for the public and said, “The decisions made here are important to people who never set foot in this building … It was a privilege to be the eyes and ears of the public here.”
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