“Initially, the book began as my doctoral dissertation, because I also was curious as to what happens to the press in the middle of a domestic civil war,” said van Tuyll. “Nobody has ever studied that before.”

Van Tuyll said the book is being published by Peter Lang and will be available to the public in five weeks.

Considered an authority on the news media, van Tuyll not only teaches it, but has practical experience as both a former reporter and as a researcher.

The Alabama AP award was the first in a long stream of awards she received for photography, magazines, and writing. She is the co-author and editor of the book Knights of the Quill: Confederate Correspondents and their Civil War Reporting, published by Purdue University Press. She also is the author or co-editor of two previous books, The Southern Press and the Civil War and the Civil War and the Press.

Van Tuyll received her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Montevallo, a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and a doctoral degree in mass communications from the University of South Carolina.