© 2026 All Rights reserved WUSF
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Our daily newsletter, delivered first thing weekdays, keeps you connected to your community with news, culture, national NPR headlines, and more.

Reflecting On The First Woman TV News Star

Before Katie Couric and Diane Sawyer, there was Nancy Dickerson. In 1960, Dickerson broke through TV journalism's all-male fortress to become the first female reporter on television. In his book On Her Trail: My Mother, Nancy Dickerson, the first female TV news star's youngest son, John Dickerson, chronicles his mother's impressive career and her troubled family life.

Read an excerpt here and listen to President's secret phone call with Nancy Dickerson here.

This piece originally aired Oct. 19, 2006. John Dickerson is chief political correspondent for Slate.com.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Tags
John Dickerson
Thanks to you, WUSF is here — delivering fact-based news and stories that reflect our community.⁠ Your support powers everything we do.