Paula Ann Jameson, lawyer, PBS advocate Submitted by N.O.V.A. Times Picayune 06-22-2007 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ Paula Ann Jameson, a New Orleans native and lawyer who pushed for continued funding of public television when it was under attack in Congress in the mid-1990s, died June 8 of renal cancer at her Arlington, Va., home. She was 62. Ms. Jameson graduated from Covington High School and from Louisiana State University with a major in economics and a minor in business. She went on to the University of Texas, where she was one of only 15 women in the law school's 1969 graduating class of more than 600. Ms. Jameson began putting her law degree to work for the District of Columbia in 1970, first as an assistant prosecutor and later as an attorney for the district housing authority. From 1973 to 1977, she was employed by the Fairfax County, Va., attorney's office as senior assistant county attorney. In 1977, Ms. Jameson began what would be a nine-year stint as house counsel for Dow Jones & Co., Inc., in New York City. Her duties included managing the legal, intellectual property, governmental affairs and labor relations activities of Dow Jones publications, including the Wall Street Journal. Ms. Jameson was senior vice president and general counsel for the Public Broadcasting Service in Alexandria, Va., from 1986 to 1998. Among her duties was directing the legal, copyright, intellectual property, governmental affairs and other activities for all PBS operations. Paul Jameson of Houma said Thursday that his sister was viewed as a leader in her field because she broke ground by holding jobs never before held by women, such as the Dow Jones post. In 1999, the year she joined a prestigious Washington, D.C., law firm as a partner specializing in copyright, intellectual property, electronic commerce, entertainment and communications law, Ms. Jameson was diagnosed with renal cancer, her brother said. Though her doctors told her she had only a limited amount of time left, Ms. Jameson fought back by researching the disease and "never gave up pursuing new things to keep her alive," her brother said. She continued her legal work, moving to Nashville, Tenn., in February 2000 to become vice president and general counsel for the Gibson Guitar Corp. From 2001 to 2003, she ran her own legal and consulting business, which was based in the Washington area. Ms. Jameson then managed all operational departments of the Children's Defense Fund in Washington from January 2003 until declining health prompted her to leave that job in March 2004. Ms. Jameson is survived by her adopted sons, Paul Andrew Jameson and Peter Jameson, both of Arlington, Va.; brothers Paul Jameson and Jim Bailey of Westwego; and a sister, Linda Doucet, also of Westwego. A funeral was held June 12 in Washington. Burial will be Monday at 2 p.m. at St. Louis Cemetery No. 3.