The Winner of SheWired's Out Woman of the Year Is...

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Anchoring election night coverage for MSNBC, Maddow was the first newscaster to announce that President Obama had won a second term. Her eponymous nightly program has frequently bested archrival Fox News in the ratings, and while she is up front about her liberal beliefs, on her show she argues her case elegantly and eloquently, backing it up with exhaustive research on LGBT issues, women’s rights, economic concerns, and foreign policy. This year she often called out Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for his tenuous relationship with facts and took down other politicians for untruths, and she continued to delight us with her “Moment of Geek” segment. The year also saw Maddow publish the book Drift, a much-praised critique of U.S. military spending, and receive the prestigious John Steinbeck Award, with Steinbeck’s son Tom calling her “a first-class observer and commentator.”

And the winner is... 

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