THE REVIEW ■ FIRST AMENDMENT REPORT
■ LEARNING EN ROUTE
UM SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA MAGAZINE
■ ALUMNI NEWS
FALL 2019
An Editor’s Story Steve Riley makes the news
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Flooding in the Delta
MICHAEL FAGANS
Professor Michael Fagans took his Jour 456 Journalism Innovation/Capstone students down to the southern end of the Mississippi Delta to cover the ongoing flood. More than 500,000 acres were flooded and 400,000 acres of that was farmland. See more images from that class on page 44.
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The Review:
School of Journalism and New Media Magazine records news of the students, faculty and alumni, providing them with a continued sense of belonging to the University explores the achievements, issues and events of the School strives for excellence in editorial content and design advances the best interests of the University, the School and its affiliates informs and inspires its diverse and ever-evolving readership, moving them to remain engaged with the UM School of Journalism and New Media
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Donors
We gratefully acknowledge these generous donors who provide support – Fiscal Year 2019
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UM SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA MAGAZINE
FALL 2019 ISSUE 8
PUBLISHER Will Norton, Jr. EDITOR Ellen Kellum COPY EDITOR Gregory Stepanich ART DIRECTION AND DESIGN Ellen Kellum DESIGN CONSULTANT Stefanie Goodwiller CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Allison Estes, Michael Fagans, Scott Fiene, David Hudson, Ellen Kellum, Ellen Meacham, Michael Newsom, Lata Nott, Jennifer Bryon Owen, Gene Policinski, Marshall Ramsey, Jeff Roberson, LaReeca Rucker, Edwin B. Smith, Justin Whitmore, Kathleen Wickham
COVER ILLUSTRATION BY: Ellen Kellum PHOTOGRAPHY/ILLUSTRATION
Jenny Anderson, Lee Catherine Collins, Michael Fagans, Tara Lyn Hawkins, Timothy Ivy, Jasmine Karlowski, Ellen Kellum, Stan O’Dell, Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services, Overby Center, Marshall Ramsey, LaReeca Rucker, Alysia Burton Steele, Patricia Thompson
Articles and opinions expressed in The Review are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of The University of Mississippi or the School of Journalism and New Media. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reprinted in any manner without the written permission of the publisher. The Review is published semiannually by The University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media 114 Farley Hall, University, MS 38677
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THE CONTENTS
FEATURES
Steve Riley PAGE 20 This well-respected UM journalism alum has recently beome the editor of The Houston Chronicle, the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas.
COVER STORY
BY JENNIFER BRYON OWEN
Charlie Mitchell PAGE 24 Charles Mitchell sits down with Marshall Ramsey and talks about education, media and marriage. BY MARSHALL RAMSEY
Jenny Anderson PAGE 26
BY ELLEN MEACHAM
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HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Alumna Jenny Anderson describes her journey from her time working on the Daily Mississippian to her professional career as a Broadway photographer. She also shares a wonderful selection of her favorite images of live performances and candid backstage moments.
DEPARTMENTS
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News and updates on the accomplishments of the students and faculty.
Our faculty and students travel the world, as well as regions close to home. See what learning takes place outside of the classroom.
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EN ROUTE
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BOOK REPORT OLE MISS DIGITAL IMAGING SERVICES
Read all about the latest published works written by our alumni, including athlete-turned-songwriter, Jim Weatherly and cookbook author Susan Puckett.
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ORDER IN THE COURT The U.S. Supreme Court and its rulings on First Amendment cases in the 2018-19 term.
TIMOTHY IVY
The free university event brought faculty, staff and students from all backgrounds together for conversation. Tables stretched across the Grove, where hundreds gathered to eat hamburgers and hot dogs and get to know one another better.
JIM WEATHERLY
THE LONGEST TABLE
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THE LAST WORD Faculty and friends remember the legendary Harold Burson and his lasting influence on the world of Public Relations.
Professor Charles Mitchell (above) shares his wisdom to point you in the right direction. See what he’s thinking in his Q&A with Marshall Ramsey on page 24.
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CLASS NOTES
Ever wonder what your classmates have been up to since graduation? If you have some news to share, we hope you will let us know so that today’s students will see where a degree in Journalism and Marketing can take you.
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FOUR RECENT GRADUATES AND FACULTY MEMBER HONORED BY SOUTHERN PUBLIC RELATIONS FEDERATION
STAN O’DELL
Pictured are Senior Lecturer Robin Street and IMC graduate Aleka Battista looking over their and the other graduates’ awards. Battista won an Excellence Award, as did Journalism graduates Hailey McKee and Kendall Patterson. IMC graduate Davis Roberts and Street won Merit Awards. The students entered PR campaigns they created in Street’s Advanced PR Techniques class.
Recent graduates from the School of Journalism and New Media public relations specialization and their teacher took home awards in the Southern Public Relations Federation Lantern competition. Assistant Dean and Director of the Integrated Marketing Communications program Scott Fiene praised the graduates. “Once again, our students guided by Robin Street, have won high praise for their outstanding work. The fact that these students were judged against professionals in the public relations industry makes this all the more special.” Multiple entrants can win in the same category if they earn the required number of points as scored by the judges. Awards are given at three levels. No awards were given in the highest category, called the Lantern. The Excellence Award is the next highest award, followed by the Merit Award. Aleka Battista, an IMC May 2018 graduate, won an Excellence Award for her campaign “Soar Over Summer,” designed to increase awareness of the importance of continuing learning during the summer for K-12 students. “I feel honored to be recognized alongside so many amazing public relations professionals across the South,” said Battista, who now works at Red Window Communications, an IMC agency in Oxford. “The class gave me an in-depth knowledge of public relations through hands-on experience and made me feel well prepared to not only complete a full public relations campaign but to continue on successfully in my career field.”
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Hailey McKee, a May 2019 Journalism and Public Policy graduate, also won an Excellence Award for her campaign “Gauge the Wage,” to increase awareness of the gender wage gap. “I was overjoyed to see that I’d won something because it gives validation to the work I am so passionate about,” said McKee, now a public relations graduate student at Boston University. “Ms. Street’s class was essential in learning and incorporating the skills needed to earn this award and taught me so many PR tools that I still use in my graduate class and at my internship.” Kendall Patterson, a May 2019 Journalism graduate, also won an Excellence Award for his campaign “A Person Alone Could Be a Person Lost,” on the detrimental effects of loneliness and how to overcome them. “I am blessed to be winning an award,” said Patterson, now a staff writer at the Chester County Independent newspaper in Henderson, Tennessee. “The class allowed me to understand the massive amount of research and planning required to complete a public relations campaign.” Davis Roberts, a May 2019 IMC graduate, won a Merit Award for his campaign “EATS (Emphasize Awareness Trash the Stigma) Like a Man” about eating disorders in men. “I’m extremely honored to receive an award from SPRF,” said Roberts, now a graduate student in IMC at Northwestern University. “I am just happy that I was encouraged and supported in school while creating a campaign focused on a topic that is so important and personal to me. Ms. Street forced us to step into the shoes of a PR professional by assigning us to create our own campaigns from scratch.”
STATS: Education and Enrollment
ACCOLADES – JOURNALISM
DEAN RECEIVES AEJMC PRESIDENTIAL AWARD
1,592
“In fact, our honoree has led two great programs: at the University of Nebraska, from 1990 to 2009; and, now, the School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi,” she said. “He is an exemplar of servant leadership, having been an informal mentor to many of us and a transformational teacher for hundreds of students over the decades.” Hardin quoted Norton’s friend and longtime AEJMC member Doug Anderson, who described him as an unselfish, dedicated, considerate, respectful, knowledgeable, positive, nurturing and generous contributor to AEJMC.
Number of undergraduate students in the UM School of Journalism and New Media
MICHAEL FAGANS
Humble leaders often avoid the spotlight, but sometimes inevitably find themselves in one because of their effective leadership skills and management approach. That’s why the University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media is proud to announce that our dean, Will Norton Jr., Ph.D., recently received the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Presidential Award. Debora Wenger, Ph.D., an assistant dean and professor of journalism at the University of Mississippi, attended the AEJMC conference in Toronto in August 2019 during which the award was given. She said Dean Norton humbly credited his accomplishments to the people he has worked with throughout his career. “This award is given rarely, but every person I encountered at the conference seemed to have a story about Will helping them in some way or stepping up when no one else would to get a job done,” Wenger said. “It’s clear he has been a huge asset to journalism education, and many people there applauded him for earning this much-deserved honor.” AEJMC President Marie Hardin, dean of the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at Pennsylvania State University, presented the award. She said the AEJMC Presidential Award is designed to pay special tribute to individuals who have, through their leadership and service, made a difference for the organization and field of journalism. “I’m honored to present this award to someone who has touched many lives in this room,” Hardin said during her speech. “He is a former president of AEJMC, and he is one of the few academic leaders who has also been president of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communications and vice president of the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.” Hardin said Norton is one of the longest-serving deans in journalism and mass communication education and was honored in 2005 as the Scripps Howard Foundation Journalism Administrator of the Year.
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Graduate students currently enrolled
10% Amount of the enrolled School of Journalism and New Media students that are Provost Scholars
AEJMC President Marie Hardin, dean of the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at Pennsylvania State University, presents the Presidential Award to Norton.
442
Number of students who graduated in the class of 2019
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Asya Branch Crowned Miss Mississippi USA Asya Branch was crowned Miss Mississippi USA 2019 in Tunica recently, becoming the first African-American winner of the state competition. Branch, an Ole Miss Integrated Marketing Communications student from Booneville, wins the chance to compete in the Miss USA pageant in the spring. Even though she’s no stranger to the crownand-sash circuit, she’s still stunned at being a “first.” “It’s just so amazing to me that it’s 2019 and we’re still having firsts in the African-American community,” Branch said. “It just blows my mind that I was able to be a first within my life.” “We’re slowly but surely moving forward in the state of Mississippi,” she said. “It’s a state that’s 40% African-American, so I feel like the opportunities should be equally distributed, and I just hope that this hopefully inspires people to chase their dreams, even if the people before them didn’t look like them.” Branch, whose father is in prison, said she’s excited about the opportunity to create discussions and inspire families with incarcerated parents. “I was judged so much growing up from having an incarcerated parent. I was viewed as a statistic rather than as a person with depth, and character, and so much to offer,” she said. Branch also won the separate Miss Mississippi title in 2018, in an event that was part of the the Miss America organization.
The UM School of Journalism has trained three new certified drone pilots. Professors Iveta Imre, Ph.D., Bobby Steele and Michael Fagans all took the drone class from Instructional Assistant Professor, Ji Heo Hoon, then passed the test to become certified drone pilots. Hoon has trained around 30 to 40 drone pilots who have passed certification. “The students do cone drills to develop their flying skills and also learn the types of shots you can use with a drone,” said Hoon. “ They take a lot of practice quizzes and tests to get them ready for the FAA Part 107 test, which is what you need to get the certification.” Imre is an assistant professor of visual storytelling at the UM School of Journalism and New Media. “I wanted to become a drone pilot because I think having that skill can be very useful for teaching my broadcast journalism classes,” she said. “It was also a challenging goal I set for myself, and the more I got into studying for the exam, the more I actually enjoyed the process and flying drones. I think footage you can capture using drones can be extremely useful and can provide a unique visual perspective.” Imre said having a license to professionally fly drones will allow her to work with students on visually compelling stories. “The students will be able to fly drones under my supervision, get the experience and create amazing stories for their portfolios,” she said.
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JI HEO HOON
Three New Drone Pilots
Assistant Professor Ji Heo Hoon (top) works with his three new certified drone pilots. (Left to Right): Professors Iveta Imre, Michael Fagans and Bobby Steele on the steps of Farley Hall.
WJEC Finalist
Award-Winning ESPN Sports Producer Dwayne Bray Teaches Workshop An award-winning ESPN producer taught a one-week workshop at the University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media in November. Dwayne Bray offered a select group of sports-minded students the opportunity to work with him on local enterprise stories about college athletics and local sports Nov. 4-9. “Students needed to carve out additional reporting time,” said Professor R.J. Morgan, “but we’re hoping the opportunity to work with a high-quality mentor to develop high-quality clips will make the time commitment a worthwhile investment for them.” Assistant Dean Debora Wenger said the workshop focused on helping student journalists do deeper and richer sports reporting. “Some of the best long-form storytelling you’ll see anywhere right now can be found on ESPN,” she said. “We were thrilled to have senior producer Dwayne Bray coming to campus to facilitate an intensive, weeklong focus on sports journalism with some of our most passionate students. We were able to jump-start a number of sports-related projects with Mr. Bray coaching the students through the process.” Bray, the senior coordinating producer for ESPN’s Enterprise Reporting Unit, joined ESPN in October of 2006 and has overseen the network’s team of journalists who produce long-form stories on issues throughout sports, according to the ESPN Press Room website. Those stories are most often seen on Outside the Lines, SportsCenter and E:60. Prior to joining ESPN, Bray was sports editor and deputy managing editor at the Dallas Morning News. While working as sports editor, assistant metro editor and police reporter at the Dayton Daily News, he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize three times. Before that time, he was courts reporter at the Los
A University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media integrated marketing communications student was named as a finalist in the World Journalism Education Congress “Imagine the Journalism School of Tomorrow” competition. Out of 170 applications from all over the world, IMC student Chloe Dwyer’s entry was one of 17 selected to advance in the competition that offered five winners a trip to Paris to present their papers about the future of journalism education at the 5th WJEC. Dwyer was notified that she will be receiving an official WJEC Paris certificate attesting that she was a finalist in the competition and for her continent, and that her ideas contributed to discussions in Paris about the future of journalism education for an audience of more than 500 journalism teachers who attended the WJEC July 9-11. The session was broadcast live on the WJEC internet site and available on replay. Dwyer, a 21-year-old native of Southlake, Texas, feels confident Ole Miss will continue to stay in tune with the most modern forms of journalism and business, and continue to foster an environment that sets students up for success and prepares them for excellent careers.
Angeles Times and staff reporter at the Medina (Ohio) Gazette.
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Shepard Smith Brings Inspiration and Challenge ALUMNUS SHARES CAREER MEMORIES, WORDS OF WISDOM DURING JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA VISIT BY EDWIN B. SMITH
PHOTOGRAPHY BY TIMOTHY IVY A week after announcing his resignation from Fox News, famed broadcast journalist Shepard Smith returned to the University of Mississippi Friday in October to speak to a roomful of journalism and integrated marketing communications students at the School of Journalism and New Media. Smith shared that while technology will always change, the rules of good journalism practice and citizenship never change. “First and foremost, you must always operate in what’s good for the public interest,” he said. “Freedom of the press is protected by the Constitution. With that freedom comes responsibility.” Smith told the future journalists they should attribute whatever they do not see, hear, smell or taste. He also encouraged them to practice full disclosure and always show respect. “Always remember that with every news story there are people who deserve to be treated with respect,” he said. “Respect every single person. It’s important because at the end of the day, it’s never just about scooping the story.” Smith also challenged the audience to “fix the mess” created by his generation and older. “You are the future,” he told a standing-room-only crowd. “We messed it (the country) up. You have to fix it.” Reflecting on his remarkable career as an investigative reporter of some of the nation’s most controversial incidents, Smith urged his listeners to begin by always telling the truth – no matter how uncomfortable it may make some or how awkward the results might be. “Mistakes can usually be corrected, but you have to do so with the same fervor that you made the mistake,” he said. “It’s just so much easier to tell the truth. Admit that you
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screwed it up. The moment you don’t tell the truth, you’ve betrayed your audience.” Smith said teamwork is also extremely important. “At Ole Miss, you learn how to make friends and get along with people,” the Holly Springs native said. “If you learn those things, you can go anywhere you want to go and achieve anything you want to achieve.” After working at Fox News for 23 years – since its first broadcast in 1996 – the network’s senior correspondent, managing editor and chief news anchor abruptly announced on his program, Shepard Smith Reporting, that he was leaving the network. “I left because it was time for a change,” Smith said. “Since then, I’ve been scheduling appearances at several universities around the country. Ole Miss was my first stop. I love Ole Miss.” Students and faculty said Smith’s remarks and candor left a lasting impression on them. Kendall Chavarria, a senior integrated marketing communications major from Punta Gorda, Florida, took notes during the talk. “I thought it was cool how he said we have to always tell the truth,” Chavarria said. “It’s obviously something he is passionate about. In an age when we hear so much about ‘fake news,’ it’s really encouraging to hear a successful member of the news media take a stand for telling the truth.” Smith is a great example of the type of alumni Ole Miss produces, said Will Norton, dean of the School of Journalism and New Media. “Shepard Smith is living proof that Ole Miss gives you a foundation to build a successful career in journalism,” Norton said. “If you work hard, apply yourself and follow your dreams, then any of you can become the next Shepard Smith.”
Journalism Student Interns at ‘Dateline NBC’ in NYC A University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media student entering her senior year landed a spot in the National Association of Black Journalists/NBC News Summer Fellows program. DeAndria Turner was assigned to Dateline NBC’s primetime long-form journalism news program. She’s working every day at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. The program is a paid internship, and also includes a housing stipend. Turner’s daily duties include collaborating on the morning rundown multimedia presentations and keeping executive producers updated on breaking news; transcribing interviews; working with producers to fact-check and research stories; and shadowing on-site promotional shoots. Turner is from Gautier, Mississippi, and before her internship began in early June, she had never been to New York. “I’m a small-town girl navigating my way around this huge city,” Turner said. “I’m most enjoying exploring the not-so-touristy parts of New York. I like to go to Brooklyn and Queens and really see the history and the people. There’s so much to do here and so little time, but it’s a blast. “The best thing about my internship is that I’ve never done this before. I want to be in front of the camera, but I’m learning what it feels like to be behind the screen. I’m trying to take everything in to learn how to be a better storyteller visually and in my writing. Everything I’m learning here will help me be a better news reporter, and it’ll especially help me with my new job next year.” Turner was Rebel Radio student manager and a correspondent for NewsWatch Ole Miss last year. When she returns from her internship, she will work at the Student Media Center as multimedia director, coordinating content and producing packages for The Daily Mississippian, NewsWatch and Rebel Radio.
Mississippi Artist Marshall Ramsey Drawing Students To His Ole Miss Classroom MARSHALL RAMSEY is a twotime Pulitzer Prize finalist, editorial cartoonist and editor-at-large at Mississippi Today. When his pair of illustrations published in The Clarion-Ledger memorializing the passing of Barbara and George H.W. Bush went viral in 2018, Assistant Dean and Professor Debora Wenger said Ole Miss’s School of Journalism and New Media took notice. “When I saw that Marshall’s cartoon had captured the attention of the nation, I thought, ‘This is a man who is a good friend of our school. He’s an amazing speaker and teacher. Why have we not had him on campus teaching a class before?’” Wenger said. Coursework involved discussions, marketing advice and weekly drawings based on current events. Since fall is an election season, Ramsey invited politicians, candidates and other newsmakers to speak in class and provide material for students of all skill levels to draw. “You have to have humor that everyone can relate to, and you have to be on top of the issues to know what’s go-
ing on,” he said. “But, truly, a great editorial cartoon has a great idea behind it. There are ideas that just sometimes speak to people, and that’s when you know you’ve succeeded in creating something.” “I hope that the chance to work with a Pulitzer-nominated cartoonist and amazing artist will intrigue students beyond journalism to see some of the creative classes we offer,” Wenger said. Although many newsrooms across the country are cutting editorial cartoons to save money, Ramsey said cartoons are not going anywhere and are increasingly relevant in a visual-based, social-media savvy society. “Editorial cartoons get a lot of information across very quickly,” Ramsey said. “They truly are made for these times.” It did not take much to convince Ramsey to teach at Ole Miss, as he says the “gorgeous campus,” “many friends” and students in Oxford make it worth it. “It recharges me because it’s fun to be around the students and their energy,” Ramsey said. “It makes me not get stagnant. I enjoy any chance I can to come up to Oxford and be able to contribute a little bit of my talent.”
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Discussion Over Dinner to Envision an ‘Even Stronger University’
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UM’S LONGEST TABLE BRINGS FACULTY, STAFF AND STUDENTS FROM ALL BACKGROUNDS TOGETHER FOR CONVERSATION BY MICHAEL NEWSOM PHOTOGRAPHY BY OLE MISS IMAGING SERVICES
Food and fellowship in the Grove is one of the University of Mississippi‘s most beloved traditions, but those who gathered there for those purposes Sunday, Oct. 27 hope to begin a new tradition called “The Longest Table.” The free university event stretched across the Grove, where hundreds gathered to eat hamburgers and hot dogs and get to know one other better. Organizers said the continuous table – really, 50 tables placed end-to-end – is a powerful visual, where everyone has a place, and participants are arranged as part of one community along the Walk of Champions. Chancellor Glenn Boyce told the crowd he hopes the Longest Table becomes an annual event. “It’s such an honor to be part of this special event – one I hope will be the start of a new tradition at the University of Mississippi,” Boyce said. “I hope these tables are always filled all around this beautiful area. “When you have the opportunity to have a grand idea to create something as special as this evening, don’t hesitate. Do as Lily Sweet King did and bring it forward because we are a university that will listen to you and listen with intent.” King, an Ole Miss sophomore, coordinated a similar event at her high school in Tallahassee, Florida, and she proposed through an email to the chancellor’s office months ago to bring the event to UM. This led to the creation of a planning committee of faculty, staff and students. King provided a fantastic example of the compassion, warmth and caring found at Ole Miss, Boyce said.
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“We’re very proud you are one of ours and you have two more years to come up with more wonderful ideas for us,” he said. King, who has been recognized for her efforts with the event she organized at her high school, said after the Longest Table that she was pleased with the conversations attendees were having with one other. “What I saw from just being at a table was that the connections people were making is what leads to understanding, which in turn leads to empathy,” King said. “I think that it helps to show people that
when you listen to each other, you start to understand each other. That breaks downs barriers and combats divisiveness.” Cade Smith, assistant vice chancellor for community engagement, explained that the event is the university’s “family table,” and it uses facilitated conversations to accomplish three goals. Participants made connections and shared a meal with people from different walks of life. Secondly, they listened in order to understand diverse perspectives and share their own thoughts and experiences.
“I think that it helps to show people that when you listen to each other, you start to understand each other. That breaks down barriers and combats divisiveness.” — Lily Sweet King
UM students gather in the Grove to eat, enjoy conversation and help envision a stronger university as part of the first-ever Longest Table event last Fall.
Finally, participants shared their dreams for creating an even stronger university for the benefit of all. “Perhaps, UM’s greatest assets are the rich diversity of people, experiences, skills and perspectives that form the fabric of our university,” Smith said. “The Longest Table creates a time, place and format to better capture the value of these assets and envision an even stronger university.” The Division of Diversity and Community Engagement will continue to work with organizations and individuals across the campus and community “to continue the fellowship, share diverse perspectives and work together for an even better tomorrow,” Smith said. Erin L. Payseur Oeth, a project manager with the division and a Kettering Foundation fellow specializing in civic deliberation, co-led the creation of the event. She believes the strong turnout, despite overcast skies, is proof that the community genuinely wants to get to know one other. “There is power in people coming together to share a meal together to start genuine conversation and action,” she said. “There are outcomes for the event, but this is not a conversation with an agenda. “The goal is to connect and be in conversation with each other, and we hope the response shows that people have a desire for those kinds of conversations and those kinds of opportunities. We want to continue to provide those.” Along the many tables in the Grove, lively conversations flourished as strangers got to know one other better. They talked about their experiences here and their hopes for an even better future. Nader Pahlevan, a junior biochemistry major from Biloxi, sat at a table with a group of people he’d just met. He tried to listen without judgment. He believes this approach is important because in thinking about his vision for the university, he decided he wants it to build on the environment of open-mindedness he said he’s found here. “People are very open-minded here, but I think we can always push toward more open-mindedness by having people feel free to talk about what they want to talk about,” Pahlevan said. “It’s important to ask more
A line of 50 tables end-to-end stretched down the Walk of Champions as hundreds of students, faculty and staff members came out for the first-ever Longest Table. UM Provost Noel Wilkin (center) shared ideas with those joining him at the Longest Table, which brought together Ole Miss stakeholders for conversations about the future of the university.
questions, and not just assume things because asking more questions than making assumptions helps you understand better where that person is coming from.” Annabelle Harris, a freshman English and classics major from Tulsa, Oklahoma, said she has felt very welcome since she came to the university and has forged many new connections. She wants every student to have that kind of rich experience. “I knew no one here, but I’ve made lots of friends, and I have met people from all kinds of places,” Harris said. “Not even just from
the United States; we have so many people who come in to study from other countries. We want this to be a place where we can come in and learn and be included and just be together.” Seeking out diverse connections on campus is key to maximizing the Ole Miss experience, she said. “You just have to talk to people,” Harris said. “You have to get to know people. Everyone is different. We just have to celebrate those differences and recognize how different we are, but yet, we have so many similarities.”
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UM Creates Elite Talbert Fellows Program The UM School of Journalism and New Media is seeking future journalism and communications students in Mississippi and beyond for a unique program designed to provide exclusive opportunities. Incoming journalism and integrated marketing communication students with great potential and strong work portfolios are encouraged to apply to become Talbert Fellows, an elite cohort within the school. The program will begin in the fall of 2020. Talbert Fellows will be selected based on a portfolio of their best submitted work in print, broadcast, integrated marketing communication, photography, etc. rather than their GPA or ACT scores. Applicants should begin submitting work and follow the UM scholarship application process. The Talbert Fellows program will offer scholarship opportunities and financial assistance in addition to other funding students might receive, special events, personalized attention and coaching from faculty, reporting trips and a possible travel budget. “Students have a lot of choices when it comes to finding the right university, and we think the Talbert Fellows program might be just the little extra incentive some need to choose the School of Journalism and New Media,” said Assistant Dean and Associate Professor of Journalism Debra Wenger, Ph.D. “From scholarship money to unique experiential learning opportunities to networking options, the students accepted to become Talbert Fellows will find themselves positioned to become future leaders in the fields of journalism and integrated marketing communications.” Assistant Dean and Associate Professor Scott Fiene said the School of Journalism and New Media is pleased to launch a program that offers more than just financial assistance. “This will also create a unique cohort of students who get opportunities for faculty coaching, reporting trips, possibly special class sections, and a lot more,” he said. “It’s truly a win for students and a milestone in the evolution of our school.” R.J. Morgan, director of the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association, said there are many high school students across the country who are proving they are skilled thinkers and innovators at a young age. “Students like that need to be honored, but more than that, they need to be challenged to reach their full potential,” he said. “This program will help us better identify those students from the outset, so that once they arrive on campus, we can focus our best resources on pushing them to an elite level of success.”
The Talbert Fellows program is named after Samuel S. Talbert, (right) who chaired the Ole Miss Department of Journalism from 1951 until his death in 1972. The versatile administrator and author wrote three academic books on journalism, several plays and a column published in more than 100 newspapers.
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First Amendment
ILLUSTRATION BY ELLEN KELLUM
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
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FIRST AMENDMENT
Order Court in the
THE U.S. SUPREME COURT’S FIRST AMENDMENT OPINIONS IN THE 2018-19 TERM
BY DAVID HUDSON, LATA NOTT AND GENE POLICINSKI
THE U.S. SUPREME COURT IN ITS 2018-19 TERM RESET A SIGNIFICANT MARKER in church-state separation, returned to the troubling thicket of retaliatory arrests, tackled the concept of when private companies perform work on behalf of government, and voided a trademark practice barring “immoral or scandalous” marks.
THE BLADENSBURG CROSS
In American Legion v. American Humanist Association, the court turned back a challenge to a large cross that had been displayed since 1918 on public property in Bladensburg, Maryland. The American Humanist Association contended the monument promoted and endorsed Christianity, thus violating the First Amendment’s establishment clause. Supporters, including the American Legion, countered that the cross served a secular purpose – honoring U.S. service members who died in World War I – and that while such a cross might well also have religious significance to the monument, that had been at most a secondary meaning over the past 100 years. The court voted 7–2 to turn back the challenge, with Justice Samuel Alito writing “with sufficient time, religiously expressive monuments, symbols, and practices can become embedded features of a community’s landscape and identity. The community may come to value them without necessarily embracing their religious roots.” Alito relied more on a history and tradition than application of the much-maligned Lemon test — created by the Court in Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971) – which poses three elements in analyzing an Establishment Clause challenge: Is there a secular
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legislative purpose; it must neither advance or inhibit religion; does it foster excessive government entanglement with religion. Alito said, “The cross is undoubtedly a Christian symbol, but that fact should not blind us to everything else that the Bladensburg Cross has come to represent.” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissented. She emphasized the clear religious significance of an “immense” Latin cross, writing that “by maintaining the Peace Cross on a public highway, the Commission elevates Christianity over other faiths, and religion over nonreligion.” The decision featured six other opinions: five concurrences and a dissent. Several of the concurring justices — most notably Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh — took shots at the Lemon test. Justice Gorsuch called the Lemon test a “misadventure” and noted its lack of defense among the justices. Justice Kavanaugh was blunter, writing: “And the court’s decisions over the span of several decades demonstrate that the Lemon test is not good law and does not apply to Establishment Clause cases in any of the five categories.” Finally, Justice Thomas, who believes the Court erred years ago in even incorporating the Establishment Clause, called for Lemon to be overruled: “I
would take the logical next step and overrule the Lemon test in all contexts.” The decision was seen by many court analysts as reflecting a new, conservative tilt among the justices, prompted by the appointments of Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.
‘IMMORAL’ TRADEMARKS
In a second significant First Amendment decision, the court held that the Lanham Act’s prohibition on the federal registration of “immoral” or “scandalous” marks, in Section 2(a), violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. The decision came two years after the court said, in Matal v. Tam, invalidated a provision that prohibits “disparaging” trademarks. The court ruled on a claim against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by Erick Brunetti, who markets a clothing line with the trademark “FUCT.” Brunetti sought the additional benefits of federal registration of the trademark, but his application was rejected by the office citing determination the proposed mark was either “vulgar” or had “decidedly negative sexual connotations.”
GERRYMANDERING FIGHT AVOIDED
In considering two cases, Lamone v. Benisek and Rucho v. Common Cause, the Court avoided a hot political issue over partisan gerrymandering claims. The cases alleged that voting maps drawn by state legislatures violated First and 14th Amendment rights. The court said such issues are not justiciable – could not be decided by the justices – because they present a political question beyond the reach of the federal courts.
The court held that probable cause to make an arrest defeats a claim of police retaliation brought by an Alaska man, Russell Bartlett, who was arrested in 2014 during a winter sports festival. Bartlett claimed that police violated his First Amendment rights by arresting him in retaliation for his refusal to speak with one police officer and his intervention moments later on behalf of a young person talking with a second officer. Finally, the court ruled – in an area of law called “state action” – that a nonprofit private cable TV access channel operator in New York was not acting on behalf of the government and thus First Amendment speech protections did not apply to its decision not to air a certain video in 2012. The court, in Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck, upheld the right of the channel operator to refuse to rebroadcast a video it said it determined, after airing it one time, to contain threatening language. Lower courts allowed a lawsuit filed by two men associated with the video to proceed
because of a perceived government role by Manhattan Community Network in operating the public access channel. The justices voted 5-4 to reject that position, noting that merely providing a place for people to speak does not bring the First Amendment (which restricts only government) into play. Justice Kavanaugh wrote for the court’s majority that “private property owners and private lessees often open their property for speech. Grocery stores put up community bulletin boards. Comedy clubs host open mic nights.” Kavanaugh also wrote that for the First Amendment to apply, the private concern must be performing a function traditionally done only by government – and that in New York City’s history, both government and private companies have operated cable TV access channels. Justice Sotomayor dissented, writing that “just as the City would have been subject to the First Amendment” if was operating the channel the cable network “assumed
the same responsibility when it accepted” authority to operate it.
THE SULLIVAN DECISION, UNDER FIRE What may well prove to be one of the more significant moments in the court’s 2018-19 term didn’t directly involve a decision. In February, Justice Clarence Thomas called for the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit its landmark 1964 decision New York Times v. Sullivan, which set a high standard for public officials and figures hoping to successfully sue for defamation. The Times decision said that public officials (later expanded to include “public figures”) must prove actual malice — knowing or reckless disregard for the truth, even if the account contained inadvertent error. In a 9-0 vote on a routine matter, Thomas opined that the Times decision should be reviewed – Supreme Court-shorthand for reversed or dramatically rewritten – since there is no mention of the actual malice standard in the 45 words of the First Amendment.
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COVER STORY
Transforming the Art of Reporting STEVE RILEY THIS OLE MISS ALUM MELDS OLD SCHOOL JOURNALISM WITH NEW WORLD DELIVERY AS THE NEW EXECUTIVE EDITOR OF THE 2019 TEXAS NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR
BY JENNIFER BRYON OWEN PHOTOS COURTESY OF STEVE RILEY
THE PREMIUM WEBSITE OF THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE, houstonchronicle.com, identifies by photo and name roughly 260 convicted sexual abusers who were employees or volunteers of Southern Baptist churches. Also under special projects is the sixpart investigative series “Abuse of Faith,” 16 related articles and many videos.
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While this is just one of several investigative series on the site, Executive Editor Steve Riley (’80) points to it as an excellent example of good investigative journalism. He should know. After 31 years at The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., the senior editor for investigations joined the Chronicle in 2017 to lead investigative and special projects. In addition to “Abuse of Faith,” his investigative projects at the Chronicle include: “Broken Trust,” which exposed mismanagement in the Texas Permanent School Fund, the largest school endowment in the country; and “The Track,” an examination of the rampant sex trade in an area of Houston known as the Bissonnet Track. Riley looks for curiosity and persistence in people who want to be investigative reporters. “The best ideas come from tips or reporters connecting the dots,” Riley said. “In a good investigative reporter, I look for people who show initiative and don’t let their regular duties get in the way of finding bigger and better stories. These are the people you want to reward.” Robert Downen, a 20-something reporter in his second year of a two-year Hearst Fellowship, did just that. He approached Riley
Steve Riley is the Houston Chronicle’s new executive editor. He previously led a team of five reporters and a data specialist. He came to the Chronicle from The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., where he most recently was senior editor for investigations. Riley has directed work that has led to multiple new laws and criminal convictions. His teams have won more than a dozen national awards and have twice been finalists for a Pulitzer Prize.
STEVE RILEY “out of the blue” with information that had led him to believe there might be as many as 500 sexual abuser cases. “I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but that number got my attention,” Riley said. He believes any editor’s job is to put his or her people in their best position to do their best work. In the Baptist series, he made that happen. “The last thing I wanted to do after he found this information was to push him aside, to tell him we were going to get more experienced reporters to take this over,” Riley said. “You see the initiative, encourage it and allow it to flourish.” So he built a team around the young reporter that included more experienced reporters and even the newspaper’s data people, ending up with more than a dozen people contributing to the series.
With more than 1 million unique visits, the “Abuse of Faith” series has been the most widely read story in the history of the newspaper’s premium website. “It will continue to be a big story. We still have a couple of significant stories in various stages,” Riley said. “The Southern Baptist Convention has taken some action, but there are still things people need to know. The best part is that we feel like we’ve made some difference in the way that the SBC, and by extension its churches, are going to deal with allegations of sexual abuse going forward after a period where they did not appear to take them seriously.” Good journalism is more important than ever, Riley said, and the market for good, honest news reporting still exists. “What I don’t know is all the platforms we’re going to have to serve it up on.”
Identifying those is a major task for the Chronicle’s new executive editor. While keeping print strong, Riley wants to increase digital readership. One way is targeting when readers want to receive news. “That’s not always in the morning when it lands in the driveway. We want people to return to our website during the day so we need not only breaking news but enterprise work that provokes.” He’s building teams to create content for the early morning and the 3 p.m. newsletter that go to current and potential subscribers, as well as for the premium website and the free site, chron.com. “Steve’s energy and tenacity show why he was named executive editor,” said Lee Ragland, director of public relations at the Godwin Agency in Jackson, and a friend of Riley’s since they reported sports for The Daily Mississippian. “He wants to look at something, dig into it and find the truth. He wants to expose some of the wrongs of the world.” After graduation, Riley joined the sports desk of The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. He switched to news when he took a position covering city hall for The Sun in Biloxi. He thought government reporting would have
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COVER STORY
more of an impact. Then The Clarion-Ledger enlisted him to open a Gulf Coast bureau. Wayne Weidie, who owned newspapers on the Mississippi coast, provided office space at his Ocean Springs newspaper. Before his recent death, Weidie said “The ‘Clarion-Ledger’s’ Gulf Bureau had a lot of major stories in the paper. Steve was the one pushing them.” Charles Overby, the Pulitzer Prizewinning executive editor of the ClarionLedger at that time, wrote, “You just knew Steve was going to be a star from the very first. He went after stories with gusto. He loved big stories. He loved everything about newspapers, and his enthusiasm was contagious. He was a real leader in the newsroom even before he became an editor.” Riley covered politics and government for the C-L in Jackson for a couple of years before joining the The Raleigh News & Observer in 1986 to report on state government and politics. He was soon named senior reporter for special projects and reported on a foundation that spent most of its money on itself rather than its intended purpose. He also wrote a series called “Children on the Edge” about juvenile crime. Melanie Sill, senior journalism consultant and the visiting James K. Batten Professor of Public Policy at Davidson College and former executive editor at The News & Observer, wrote: “Steve reported meticulously and with a strong sense of humanity. He convinced a judge to open up access to juvenile court files — which required a special court order — so he could understand and track what happened to a year’s worth of cases, then did the legwork and trust-building to report on individual children and families caught up in the system. “Yet Steve was known for a trademark phrase — yee, ha! — and the ability to cut loose. On a trip to New Orleans to accept the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award for his juvenile justice series, ‘Children on the Edge,’ he managed to get up on stage with Waylon Thibodeaux to play a bit of washboard. “Steve was a highly effective captain of reporting teams, and I will always remember his skill in deploying reporters after Hurricane Floyd, and in thinking not just of today’s stories but also tomorrow’s.”
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‘CHRONICLE’ NAMED 2019 TEXAS NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR The Houston Chronicle earned the prestigious Newspaper of the Year award last March at the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors conference in Austin, Texas. The Houston Chronicle, one of the largest newspapers in the United States, was founded in 1901 and was acquired by Hearst in 1987. In addition to delivering in-depth coverage of local issues, the Houston Chronicle is committed to covering state, national and international news. As one of Texas’ largest news organizations, it publishes print and online products in English and Spanish including mobile apps and sites, direct mail, commercial print and experiential marketing programs. In addition to the Houston Chronicle’s 825,000 daily readers and 1.4 million readers on Sunday, Chron.com is widely regarded as one of the top newspaper websites and averages nearly 95 million page views and 15 million unique visitors each month. “His combination of heart and head are rare, and have made him not just a terrific journalist but also a good leader of people.” He also reported on the 1991 plant fire at the Hamlet chicken plant that killed 25 workers. In 1995 he was promoted to state government editor and became sports editor in 1996. He had been in his third year as sports editor and had agreed to become the metro editor when Hurricane Floyd threatened the North Carolina Triangle area. About 36 hours before the hurricane hit, he was asked to organize the coverage. He supervised reporting of the storm and its aftermath. The coverage landed the paper on the Pulitzer Prize finalist list for breaking news. Four years later, he began leading the newspaper’s investigative team. “To oversee investigations, you have to have really good instincts. You have to be a good listener to truly understand what is out there, what could be out there and then figure out how to pursue it,” said Orage Quarles III,
retired president and publisher of the News & Observer. “Steve has that. He has patience. He’s easygoing but focused. Leading an investigative team takes months, lots of dead ends, lots of frustration. Steve has the ability to keep them going.” Riley’s success became evident when Quarles encountered eager readers around town who peppered him with questions about investigations in the works. “He is passionate about his work and has this quiet competitive streak,” Quarles said. He has personal knowledge of Riley’s competitiveness. Both of them like driving fast cars. “You learn a lot about someone when you get in a car with them and drive 100 miles an hour safely. You see how much control and focus they have.” Quarles watched Riley embrace new skills and lead his team to do the same when digital entered the newsroom. “He had to learn how to do video, to get stories you might want to
develop further for print but to go to digital first, how to maximize databases that were previously unavailable,” he said. Riley was influenced by Pat Stith, a former investigative reporter in Raleigh. When Stith retired in 2008, John Drescher, deputy editor of the national politics investigations team at The Washington Post and former executive editor of The News & Observer, said, “For almost 40 years, Pat Stith has been the soul of this paper. He represents the best of what we are: tough, fair, honest, vigilant and hardworking. “I could say the same about Steve,” he wrote. “He was one of the best investigations editors in the country, and it’s fitting that he is now the top editor at the ‘Houston Chronicle,’ one of the best newsrooms in the country. “Stith had 10 rules that governed his journalistic life. He called them The Rules. Steve had them engraved on a plaque that was in his office. When Steve left the ‘N&O,’ he gave the plaque to me. It sits proudly on my desk at ‘The Washington Post,’ a reminder of two of the best journalists I’ve ever worked with.” His team collaborated with The Charlotte Observer on the series “Prognosis: Profits.”
THINKING ABOUT AN ADVANCED DEGREE?
That series was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of large nonprofit hospitals in North Carolina that had raised health-care costs, paid executives millions and caused thousands to struggle to pay their hospital bills. The series noted that the hospitals were not acting like nonprofits. Of the investigative work under Riley’s watch, the most public pushback or praise came after the News & Observer reported on the academic scandal at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. The university was extensively investigated by the NCAA for a system of fake classes taken by thousands of students, roughly half of them athletes, that spanned three decades. Quarles illustrated the importance of Riley’s leadership at the News & Observer with a decision management made when the 2008 recession hit newspapers. “The deep recession put tremendous pressure on our operation. We decided to continue with what we did best, what no one else did better, and to double down on it,” said Quarles. Management chose three areas: state government, sports and investigative reporting.
“No one could do that as well as we could, so why give up that franchise,” Quarles said. “Those key areas were our strategic plan for survival. Steve and his team were instrumental in making that happen.” When journalism attracted him during high school in Nettleton, Miss., Riley didn’t know he would become a crucial player in the survival of newspapers. Back then, the publication of Jim Bouton’s baseball memoir Ball Four and the Watergate scandal caught his attention. “Ole Miss was a good place to figure out whether I could write and whether I could make a career out of this,” Riley said. “It was fun, and I never thought about doing anything else.” Two things from Ole Miss have stayed with him. His fear of Dr. (Jere) Hoar’s legendary Law and Ethics class was unfounded. “It turned out to be a great class.” The other was the day when Professor Will Norton projected one of Riley’s stories on the overhead and said, “Geez, Riley, what is this?” It’s a safe bet no one ever had to ask Steve Riley that again.
SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA
KNOW SOMEONE WHO IS? The School of Journalism and New Media now offers three great graduate programs: Journalism, IMC, and a new fully online IMC Master’s.
The Path to Greatness
Starts Here
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C
A CONVERSATION WITH
Charles Mitchell BY MARSHALL RAMSEY
ILLUSTRATION BY MARSHALL RAMSEY
CHARLIE MITCHELL IS AN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR at the University of Mississippi School of Journalism. He has served as its assistant dean and also as the executive editor of The Vicksburg Post. He is a 1975 graduate of Mississippi State University and a 1986 graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law with a juris doctorate. His former weekly statewide column, “Conversation,” is how I became familiar with Charlie. It appeared in the Sunday perspective section of the Clarion-Ledger next to my cartoons. Over the past 23 years, I’ve gotten to know and respect him. We’d visit on the front porch of Sid Salter’s Neshoba County Fair cabin porch every July. Today, I get to plop on his office couch on the Mondays I teach and visit with him. There are five people I go to for advice and Charlie is one of them. He and his wife Nancy are friends and I’m a huge fan of both of them (I wish I could draw like Nancy.) Recently, one of my students asked about Professor Mitchell (she had drawn him in a cartoon). I told her that Charlie will always stand up for what is right — and has, numerous times. That and he is funny and wise, too. Here are few questions I recently asked him. How long have you and Nancy been married? Coming up on 46 years if we make it. We married at 19 and our mothers were sure it wouldn’t last. Why did you decide to go into journalism? I didn’t know it at the time, but with time to reflect I think it had something to do with truth. My grade school years in Vicksburg included the gamut from Freedom of Choice to districting. Adults (other than my parents) seemed to grow more apoplectic at each phase. I just didn’t see it. I was pretty sure the walls would not come crashing in when black kids and white kids sat in the same classroom. I was naive and thought the reason grown-ups
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were going berserk was they just didn’t know desegregation wasn’t a big deal. I thought if they knew the truth they’d calm down. This is more than you asked, but we had common sense parents. Not activists or liberals, but by example they showed us that while there were good people and bad people in the world, character was not a function of race. Why did you earn a law degree? I’m not really sure. It wasn’t a deeply pondered decision. I was 27 and was having a great time as a reporter but I thought there was something more. I never contemplated being in a typical law practice although that was a possibility. There were lots of newspaper mergers and acquisitions at the time and that looked
interesting, I was passionate about open government because I still believed if people only knew they’d make any changes they thought needed changing, so a First Amendment practice was contemplated. The only two things I didn’t expect ever to do was work at a newspaper or teach college, which, as it happens, are the only two things I have done. Who was your mentor — or at least who influenced you when you were starting out? And who influences you now? Henry Meyer was a community newspaper publisher who retired into teaching at Mississippi State. Charlie Faulk was my first tolerant (I tested him) managing editor. Gordon Cotton was a feature writer at The Vicksburg Post who knew how to frame and effectively tell a story. I don’t write much anymore, but I have faculty colleagues whose work I enjoy – Vanessa Gregory and Curtis Wilkie. There are many, many others. Where do you think the media is headed? There are a blue zillion moving parts. Printed newspaper readers have almost all vanished along with the print business model. Broadcast usually puts audience retention ahead of everything else either by affirming viewers’ prejudices or by staging 24-hour suspense epics. The internet will come to be known as the most transformative development in human history, but like an art history or philosophy book on a dusty library shelf, its potential to enlighten is largely dormant. By design, social media skims the surface of information. There’s all that and then there’s the very real fact that young people are the most communication-intensive in the history of humanity. They are constant information-seekers. The aphorism is that the
knowledge they seek is miles wide and inches deep, but to the extent that journalism has a legacy of providing reliable information, it does have a future. How have students changed from when you began teaching to today? The tools of teaching and learning are more advanced every day. The resources for teachers and students are exponentially greater than ever. Other than the fact that most college students are female and far more serious about academics than when I first taught in the 1980s, students spread across the same spectrum as always. About 15 percent are still at the top, but far more worldly, informed, mature and passionate than a generation ago. The 15 percent at the other end are grifters, opportunists, con artists. There is a vast middle in which most are casting about looking for something to light their fires. What Mississippi journalists do you admire the most? Actually, there aren’t any I don’t admire. You know, I’ve been there and done that and have an idea about what it takes to put your name and reputation before the public. People love to pigeonhole journalists, are super-suspicious their motives include something other than telling the truth and can engage in artful name-calling. There’s danger in that some in the media do “fall in” with one political camp or the other, which is not good. Overall, though, this state has a super record of quality journalists, including many who work at the national level. Are the arrival of the Hotty Toddy Potties appearing in the Grove to Ole Miss football what the swallows arriving to San Juan Capistrano are to spring? The cycle of life at a university is profoundly different. At newspapers, where I spent 30 years, there’s a restart every 24 hours. At the university, the
restart is annual. Some folks think it starts at graduation; others think it starts with the first football game.
How did it feel to end up in one of my cartoons (which I believe has happened once)?
What would you consider your greatest accomplishment? Proving my mother and Nancy’s mother wrong (so far), being blessed with two delightful daughters and five splendid grandchildren. That, and that time I wrote a column about how red light cameras were a ripoff, and the Legislature banned them in Mississippi.
I have left clear instructions for my tombstone. It will have to be larger than normal because the only two things I want noted is that I once had a speaking part in a Marshall Ramsey cartoon and once bought a book from John Grisham and it was the only one he sold that day. (At last count in 2012, he had sold 275 million in 42 languages.)
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MULTIMEDIA – FACULTY
JENNY ANDERSON 26
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A JENNY ANDERSON A GRADUATE OF THE JOURNALISM SCHOOL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI, THIS FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER IS NOW BASED IN NEW YORK CITY AND REGULARLY SHOOTS HIGHPROFILE EVENTS SUCH AS THE TONY AWARDS, BROADWAY OPENINGS AND FASHION WEEK BY ELLEN MEACHAM ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF JENNY ANDERSON PHOTOGRAPHY
Where is home for you? I grew up in south Mississippi, but we moved around a lot. I went to six different schools in 12 years. Now, though, when asked, I say Oxford, Mississippi. My parents moved there after Hurricane Katrina, but from eighth grade through high school, we lived in the tiny town of Brooklyn, Mississippi. How did you choose Ole Miss? I went to Forrest County Agricultural High School, and by the time I graduated, I wanted
to get out of south Mississippi. Ole Miss was a little further away, and I couldn’t afford to go out of state. I also knew that I wanted to major in journalism, and it was the best school in the state for that. No one I went to high school was there. It was a fresh start. It was my own place. What drew you to journalism? Out of high school, I thought I wanted to be a doctor, but I went to Jones County Junior
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Q&A
College. While I was at Jones, I got involved in the artistic side of the campus. I worked on the yearbook and the newspaper. I was in the marching band. I was also active in the theater department, performing in the musicals. I grew up doing musicals. My parents are both school teachers. My mother taught theater. My dad is a bluegrass musician, so I was really comfortable around performers and being backstage. But I was a little too practical to think about going into theater. In my second year at Jones, I switched to journalism, focusing on broadcast. How did you get interested in photography? I was into photography from an early age. But, for a long time, I was way too practical to think about it as a career. My parents were school teachers, so my family was not well off. I’ve always had to work. I’ve had a job since I was 10 years old. When I was in eighth grade, my Dad, who was an art teacher, gave me books about Margaret Bourke-White and Dor0thea Lange, so that was my early inspiration. I shot what I saw around me. The life of rural people. Real people. Old people. Kids playing in the yard. My granddaddy bought me my first camera, which was a film camera, so back then you still had to go and get it developed. I remember that I had to get the photos back before I could see if I was any good. Did working with film first teach you anything about getting a good shot? It probably did. You have to pay close attention to your subject. You have to be in the moment. I would get back rolls of film, and everything would be terrible, maybe 100 terrible shots for one good one. My dad had a good eye, and as an art teacher he had taught me about perspective and composition so that helped, too. What did your work with the Daily Mississippian teach you? I was here when the ATO House caught fire and three students died. It was really awful and tragic. I didn’t cover it, but seeing those photos in the paper and realizing that students were
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Clockwise from left: Demi Lovato; Cindy Lauper; Sutton Foster; Tina Fey.
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Q&A
“The work ethic and experience I earned at Ole Miss really prepared me for the real world. Putting together a daily paper is still to this day some of the hardest and most rewarding work I’ve ever done.” covering things like that, it really drove home that we’re not fully adults yet, but we’re covering very adult things. The next year, a campus police officer, Robert Langley, was killed, and I covered that and shot his funeral. That was the moment that I personally felt that “whoa, I’m doing something really real.” For me, it was the moment I became a professional. I had to go to his funeral. I remember standing there outside the Ford Center with a bunch of other photographers when his wife and children walked out with the casket. That photo haunted me for a long time. It went everywhere (on the AP wire). Two weeks before he died, I was doing a piece about him and a new drug dog. It was the last photo of him, and it went everywhere, too. They even blew that photo up and displayed it at the memorial service. I remember that I had Robert Jordan for photography class that semester. And he said that there two great photos taken that day, mine and the one in the ClarionLedger. He was pretty good to me, even though he was always mad at me because I’d roll in late to his 9 a.m. because I was working 40 hours a week at the paper. He was hard on me, but I knew he probably thought I was talented, even though I think I made a B because I missed so many days. He always used my photos, even though he wasn’t all warm and fuzzy about it. And he wrote me a great reference letter. What has been your favorite show to shoot? It has to be Wicked. I moved to New York City in August of 2007 and started working as an intern at Broadway.com, and the first thing they ever asked me to shoot was “Wicked Day,” a yearly celebration of the musical’s
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anniversary. At that point, Wicked was my favorite musical, and I was obsessed with it, and I couldn’t believe that this was my first assignment. I actually ended up quitting my day job. I was working at Circle Line Cruises, taking tourist souvenir photos, and they wouldn’t give me the Saturday off. Over the years, I’ve shot backstage with a lot of Elphabas (a main character) getting in and out of makeup. Shooting that show has been a big part of my last 12 years. I also like shooting new shows, and being part of something new. And the Tony Awards, that’s been a highlight. I’ve shot them every year since
Left: Glenn Close takes the stage elevator to her dressing room. Above: Jackie Burns backstage in hair and makeup as Elphaba in Wicked.
Clockwise from left: Jake Gyllenhaal, Ruth Wilson, and Tom Sturridge attending the 73rd Annual Tony Awards; Andrew Garfield, 2019 Tony Award winner for Best Actor in a play; Cher appears onstage at the Broadway opening of “The Cher Show.”
I’ve been here, on the red carpet and in the winner’s circle, but this year, for the first time, they decided to put me backstage during the actual telecast. It was just amazing because I’ve been doing this for 12 years, so I know a lot of actors and dressers and wig people, behind-the-scenes people. Every year they have a big huge opening number. But this year, they had a big opening number with basically every show that’s on Broadway now, so there were hundreds of people backstage. And when I got backstage, right at the top at the show, I heard my name being called like 30 times – Jenny! Jenny! Jenny! So that was pretty incredible. What is something that you learned at UM journalism that you use a lot? Honestly, I’ve never worked harder than I did at the Ole Miss journalism department.
When I was the photo editor of the media center I was working 40-hour weeks to put out a daily paper, put together a yearbook and run a staff of 10-plus photographers all while attending my full load of classes. The work ethic and experience I earned at Ole Miss really prepared me for the real world. Putting together a daily paper is still to this day some of the hardest and most rewarding work I’ve ever done.
tight-knit, strong and supportive group of humans I’ve ever been a part of. It’s truly humbling to go to work on a different show or event everyday and meet my heroes and performers I’ve looked up to my whole life and then become colleagues and friends with them. That’s just what happens. You spend an entire season covering these shows and performers and by the end they become friends and family.
You have shot a lot of stars, celebrities, etc., and been to events the general public considers glamorous. What do you wish people knew about it? Most of the stars, celebrities and events I cover are based in the Broadway community. It’s an incredible community that I don’t think a lot of people understand is also very small. It is one of the most
How do you go about capturing a personality without words? To be honest it actually starts with words most of the time. Before a shoot I’m always pretty chatty with my subject. Getting to know them makes them more comfortable and vulnerable in front of the camera. However, sometimes you don’t have the luxury of time to get to know a person, or in one case the actress I was shooting
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Q&A
with was deaf. She of course had an interpreter but really it came down to the two of us. I would move my body one way and she would follow or I would smile or not and she would copy. It was honestly one of the best shoots I’ve ever had. We just worked off of each other’s emotions and movement. The best and only way to capture someone’s personality is to make them feel comfortable and at ease and to do that most of the time you just need to be kind and be yourself. What advice do you have for journalism students, especially photographers? The advice that I continually give is just to never say no. When I graduated and moved to New York I took every single possible job that had anything to do with what I wanted to do. Even if the job didn’t pay a lot or was long hours or only had a small amount to do with what I actually wanted to do in the long run I still took the job. I did anything and everything just to get in the door. I said yes to just about everything until I got to point in my career where I finally had the luxury to say no. Also, as a photographer if you have a camera in your hand that is literally all you need. When I was first starting out I would just gather a group of my friends and go out and take photos with them. I would use the awesome city I lived in as a background and they were my guinea pigs. Of course, today you have social media so it’s even more accessible. Shoot constantly! Post constantly. Just get your work and your name out there and eventually someone will take notice.
Top: Kendall Jenner on the red carpet. At right: Regina King, Bryan Cranston and Laura Linney pose backstage at the 73rd Annual Tony Awards
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En Route LEARNING THAT TAKES PLACE OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
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EN ROUTE
SOJOURN IN
FRANCE BRITTANY
THE ADVENTURES OF A JOURNALISM PROFESSOR WHO SERVED AS CHAIR OF THE AMERICAS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF RENNES BY KATHLEEN WICKHAM
THE INVITATION TO TEACH at the University of Rennes in Brittany, France, came in an email from Gildas Le Voguer, chair of the English Department. “We would like you to apply to serve as Chair of the Americas,” he wrote. “When can you come?” It was not the first time we had communicated with Gildas. During Spring Break 2016, my partner Larry Wells and I lectured at the University of Rennes while in Brittany conducting research on French reporter Paul Guihard for my book We Believed We Were Immortal: Twelve Reporters Who Covered the 1962 Ole Miss Integration Crisis. As chair of the Americas I presented six lectures on various journalism topics (Civil Rights coverage, Media Ethics, the State of the Media) and a four-week seminar course on Fake News. Larry, who earned a Ph.D. in English from Ole Miss, lectured on Faulkner. We teamed for a joint lecture that combined the views of Faulkner and his brother on the civil rights movement with the literary journalism reporting done by Michael Dorman of Newsday. Dorman, who is also featured in We Believed, crafted a story that drew on Faulkner family views of the Ole Miss crisis, Faulkner having died the summer before James Meredith was admitted to the university in 1962. French university instruction is different from America university instruction. In France, the professor giving a lecture walks in, presents her lecture and leaves. Attendance is voluntary. No roll is taken. There is no discussion related to the material. Seminar classes are smaller, but attendance is still voluntary and there is also little interaction between the instructor and the students. Instead, at the end of the semester final exams are given over a two-month period with the date and time determined by the professor. It is at that time that students catch up on their reading and studying. I took questions and attempted to generate short discussions with middling success. Our lectures were given in English at the request of Gildas, who wanted the students to learn from a native-English speaker. Most of the students were preparing for
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KATHLEEN WICKHAM Left: Larry Wells at work in the Faulkner Center at the University of Rennes
careers as English teachers in French high schools and as such their English literacy was quite high. Rennes also was interested in developing a faculty and student exchange program between Rennes and Ole Miss. I was invited to meet with administrators seeking information about Ole Miss. This occurred over a wonderful French lunch featuring crepes, the French national food. The program was finalized in the fall of 2019 when Gildas visited the Ole Miss campus. The William Faulkner Center at Rennes, the only Faulkner center in Europe, became our campus office. At our farewell luncheon Larry, the owner of Yoknapatawpha Press in Oxford and a fellow of the Center, presented the center’s director with a poster-sized photograph of Faulkner to grace its walls. The luncheon, for our coordinating teachers and Rennes administrators, featured placements adorned with the Ole Miss logo and red paper goods. The box lunch featured sliced cold chicken, sliced cheeses, French bread and wine from the English Department’s larder, an upgrade from an American box lunch. For parting gifts I gave colorful quilted potholders made by the Tutwiler Quilters in the Delta, bringing a little bit of Mississippi to Rennes.
The University of Rennes, founded in 1735, consists of two campuses in Rennes, the capital of Brittany. Rennes (1) focuses on science and technology, Rennes (2) has a humanities emphasis. Combined, the two campuses have an enrollment of 60,000 students who make up a significant portion of the nearly 225,000 residents in the city. At Rennes (2), students interested in journalism take courses in the English Department. Rennes (2) is viewed as the largest research and higher-learning humanities university in the west of France. Rennes is known for its medieval half-timbered houses that survived a citywide fire in 1720 and for its elegant 18th-century buildings, built among the ruins. The city, which suffered little damage during World War II, was freed from German occupation in 1944, two months after D-Day. Our apartment, on the fourth floor of an 18th-century building (with 72 steps up to our door and no elevator), is in a neighborhood of narrow, winding cobblestone streets, public gardens, outdoor cafés, civic buildings and too many cathedral-size churches to count. The church bells, however, appeared to be synchronized, creating a pleasant chorus on Sunday mornings. The outdoor farmer’s market, Place des Lices, symbolized to me the city’s ancient history. Situated on the plaza that once served as the center for jousting contests between medieval knights, it is the second oldest farmers’ market in France. Customers walked to the market lugging wheeled carts to carry their provisions home. The French, like most Europeans, purchase their food almost daily because kitchens are small, and the emphasis on good food frequently means buying fresh food. Larry had a D-Day magazine assignment for Bob Guccione’s Wanderlust Travel magazine, which took us to the American cemetery at Omaha Beach and Mortain in Normandy. Mortain is notable because of the battle between 700 North Carolina National Guardsmen who found themselves surrounded by 26,000 Germans. An artillery forward observer’s first transmission, when asked from which direction the Germans were arriving, responded: “Enemy north, south, east, west.” Airstrikes forced the Germans to withdraw, clearing the way for Allied troops to head toward Paris. The town survived. Wanderlust Travel published my photograph of the Omaha Beach cemetery and other photographs from Mortain alongside Larry’s article. On weekends we explored the Brittany countryside. Carnac featured acres of megalithic stones lined up in military precision but whose origins and purpose are unknown. Bécheral, a village of 700 people, had 16 used bookstores. Dinan is known for its castle fortress built in 1384. The ancient town of Combourg was home to 19th-century writer and political activist Chateaubriand. We also visited the seaside cathedral of Mont St. Michel, and St. Malo, where we left a memorial on Paul Guihard’s grave. Paul’s murder on the Ole Miss campus remains unsolved. He worked for AFP, and learning of my presence in Rennes, Laurent Kalfala, AFP chief of engagement, contacted me for an interview. The podcast of the interview was released September 30, the anniversary of Paul’s death. I helped Kalfala facilitate interviews with Sidna Brower, editor of The Mississippian in 1962, Hank
Clockwise from left: One of the charming halftimbered houses in Brittany; Fresh seafood is bought in the farmer’s market; A cathedral in the afternoon sun; Colorful macarons on display; the street where the author stayed during her time in Brittany.
Kilbanoff, co-author of The Race Beat, and Paul’s brother Alain. Jeffrey Reed, sound engineer for Thacker Mountain Radio, provided background audio. Kalfala, using AFP contacts, found some of Paul’s co-workers, adding additional depth to Paul’s story. It was not the only journalism I practiced in France. On our last Saturday in Rennes, we were walking through the civic plaza en route to dinner, enjoying the evening activities. A wedding was underway in front of City Hall. Children were riding the carousel with its calliope music. Young couples were walking across the plaza holding hands. Bikers were returning their rented bikes. We noticed police dressed in riot gear and paddywagons lining the street. The Yellow Vests protesters were arriving, adding to the night’s activities. I slipped among the protesters looking for that perfect shot to send to my AFP contacts. Alas, the protesters ducked into the Metro station and were gone. It was time for us to come home.
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EN ROUTE
Island of Recovery PUERTO RICO STUDENT MEDIA CENTER STUDENTS AND FACULTY SPEND A WEEK ON THE ISLAND AND RECEIVE AN EXTRAORDINARY OPPORTUNITY TO PRODUCE MULTIMEDIA REPORTS ON THE HURRICANE’S AFTERMATH BY JUSTIN WHITMORE PHOTOGRAPHY BY JASMINE KARLOWSKI
For a week during winter break, University of Mississippi journalism students Brittany Brown and Devna Bose traded the comforts of home for waking up each morning at the first sign of light on an island they had never visited. They were struck by the juxtaposition between the beauty provided by Puerto Rico’s mountains, beaches and rainforests and the lingering effects of one of history’s worst natural disasters. But the two Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College students in the university’s School of Journalism and New Media did not visit the island to see the views. Brown and Bose were part of a group that went with a mission: to tell stories of recovery 16 months after Hurricane Maria. The hurricane is linked to 3,000 deaths and shook the infrastructure of the United States territory to its core. “Puerto Rico was of interest because, after doing some initial research, we knew that there were still good stories to tell about how its residents were cop-
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ing after the two hurricanes that devastated the island, particularly in impoverished areas and in communities of color,” said Patricia Thompson, assistant dean for student media referncing Hurricanes Irma and Maria. “We also found ties between Puerto Rico’s recovery efforts and Mississippi students, residents and companies.” For Brown, the trip was not solely for educational purposes. Her father is Puerto Rican, and she wanted to further understand her ancestry by visiting his family’s homeland. “I really don’t know a lot about the Puerto Rican culture,” said the senior print journalism major from Quitman. “So, it was very much a personal reason I wanted to go to Puerto Rico and with this opportunity I thought, ‘Why not go there
while also doing something I love, which is journalism and reporting.’” They packed so much work into the short winter intersession trip that not much spare time was available for sightseeing. “We traveled all over the island,” Brown said. “We covered as much ground as we could. Every day we were up with the sunrise driving to the ends of the island. We were there to work – to talk to people and tell stories. “We really got to dig into the culture of Puerto Rico. We were embedded into small communities and building relationships with everyday Puerto Ricans who are living with the effects of the hurricanes still.” The Ole Miss multimedia team included journalism student Christian Johnson, photojournalism mentor and recent graduate Ariel Cobbert, and M.F.A. graduate student Jasmine Karlowski, who also is a Study Abroad staff member. The project was led by Thompson and assistant professor Iveta Imre. The trip was an opportunity for students to stretch their legs as journalists and put the lessons learned to the test in a practical environment. Weeks of phone calls and emails before the trip, along with
UM student Brittany Brown (Above at left) interviews artist RaĂşl Ayala at his shop in LoĂza, Puerto Rico.
UM journalism student Brown (left), professor Patricia Thompson, student Devna Bose and recent Ole Miss graduate Ariel Cobbert visit the El Yunque National Rainforest in Puerto Rico while working on multimedia projects on the island during Winter Intersession of 2019.
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EN ROUTE
“Several sources complimented our students on their interviewing skills, saying they were as good or better than national media who had interviewed them.” — Patricia Thompson
the interviews, photographs and video from the week in Puerto Rico, were used to produce multimedia stories that were published during the spring semester. “I feel like we really accomplished a lot,” said Bose, a senior journalism major from Philadelphia. “I feel like I was pushed on the trip and I gained a lot as a reporter and as a person. It really forced me to learn how to communicate. “This is the only clip I have like this, where I have a hand in the photos, the video and graphics that are being made. It’s one of the most thorough pieces I’ve written. So, I feel like I put to use all the skills that I’ve learned here at Ole Miss.”
Bose and Brown said they were inspired by how the residents of Puerto Rico welcomed them, the hospitality of the people, and their passion and vigor for life despite traumatic experiences. “Many people are still hurting,” Brown said. “Some literally have PTSD, and if it rains too hard or the wind blows too hard, it can be scary. But the people of Puerto Rico are still so passionate and they refuse to sit in pity and wallow about their situation. I would describe them as resilient.” Bose’s project focused on the mental and emotional impact the storms had on island residents.
“I am looking at how the people were affected and what’s being done to improve mental health on the island since the hurricane,” she said. Bose said the residents were open and hospitable to them as reporters, and they seemed to embrace having their stories told instead of viewing the students with skepticism. “We were really careful to make sure we weren’t exploiting anyone’s tragedy or taking advantage of their situation,” she said. “But no one seemed to think like that. It didn’t seem to cross anyone’s mind. They were just so eager to share their voice, which was amazing to me.” Some of the students spent time examining recovery and the impact of the hurricanes on Loíza, a small, majority Afro-Puerto Rican town in the northeastern part of the island. In a few ways, Loíza drew comparisons to Mississippi in terms of the Magnolia State’s relationship to the rest of the United States.
Above: Brittany Brown interviews the mayor of Loíza, Julia M. Nazario. In northeastern Puerto Rico, Loiza is the center of Afro-Puerto Rican culture. Brown (left) interviews Minerra RamosOsorio in Loíza, Puerto Rico.
Scan this code to see the dmonline website created for the Puerto Rico project.
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A guided night tour of Old San Juan. Pictured are professors Iveta Imre and Pat Thompson, and students Brittany Brown, Jasmine Karlowski, Christian Johnson, Devna Bose and Ariel Cobbert.
“The story I worked on shows a lot of parallels between Loíza and Mississippi,” said Brown, who aspires to one day be a documentary filmmaker. “Loíza has one of the highest percentages of black Puerto Ricans; Mississippi is one of the states with the largest percentage of African-Americans. “It is one of the poorest cities on the island; Mississippi is one of the poorest states. But there is a resilience and a will to keep moving despite not having access to many resources, living in poverty and family members leaving the island. We deal with those things here, too.” In more rural locations on the island, English becomes less commonly spoken. Brown said her ability to speak Spanish was tested during interactions in parts of the island, and she was glad she was able to get out of her comfort zone and practice her Spanish. “This was my first time really reporting in Spanish,” she said. “My minor is Spanish,
and I feel confident in my ability to report in Spanish, but this was the first time I’ve really put the pedal to the metal and really tested myself.” Thompson said the students represented the university exceptionally well on the trip. “Watching our students expand their storytelling skills as they explored other cultures (was most memorable for me),” she said. “Several sources complimented our students on their interviewing skills, saying they were as good or better than national media who had interviewed them.” Bose said she is grateful to Thompson for her leadership and work to make this opportunity possible for students. “It amazed me that she pulled this trip together in such a short time frame,” Bose said. “We never would have been able to do anything that we were able to do without her guidance, so I’m just really grateful to her.”
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EN ROUTE
Partnering with Africa’s Largest Airline ETHIOPIA AN EXCITING NEW PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN IMC AND AN AIRLINE FROM ANOTHER CONTINENT BRINGS OPPORTUNITY TO EXPAND HORIZONS BY SCOTT FIENE
I
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF TARA LYN HAWKINS
n February, 2018, ten Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) seniors and two School of Journalism and New Media faculty members traveled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for a whirlwind three-day trip. The students – part of an IMC capstone campaigns class – went to learn more about the client they were working with, Ethiopian Airlines. While there, they experienced a VIP tour of the airline headquarters, visited and dined with company executives and got a brief taste of the culture and geography of the country. Upon returning to Oxford, they got to work developing an IMC campaign targeting U.S. travelers. The airline flies to New York, Newark, Chicago and Washington, D.C.,
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and at the time was in the midst of planning a new route from Houston. The focus of the campaign was on travelers to and from Ethiopia and those markets. The students worked closely with leaders in the company’s U.S. headquarters in Alexandria, Va., and presented their campaign at the end of the spring semester. “Working with Ethiopian Airlines truly felt like a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity,” says Zack Hollingsworth, a student in the class who has since graduated and now works as a content producer at The Focus Group agency in Biloxi. “Being able to work with the ideas and needs of a different culture really gives you a greater perspective of the world. And when you’re told with just a few weeks’
Tewolde GebreMariam CEO ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES GROUP
Students in an IMC capstone class worked with Ethiopian Airlines in spring 2019 to develop a promotional campaign for the U.S. market. In March, the class traveled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to meet with airline officials and tour the company with IMC Professors Dr. Zenebe Beyene (far left) and Scott Fiene (far right).
notice, ‘Hey, do you want to fly out to Ethiopia for a weekend?’ how do you respond?”
WHY ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES?
How did students at Ole Miss end up working with Africa’s largest airline? That’s a question that gets asked often. And the relationship with the company extends well beyond this class project. Ethiopian is the dominant airline in Africa, with a fleet of 120 late-model Boeing and Airbus aircraft (and more than 50 new planes on order). It flies to 125 destinations with 300-plus daily departures in Africa, Europe, North and South America, the Middle East and Asia. It also employs about 16,000 workers around the globe – and therein lies another opportunity for a partnership that is coming to fruition between the company and Ole Miss. Assistant Professor Dr. Zenebe Beyene, a native of Ethiopia, is well connected with government and business leaders in Ethiopia. When he joined the faculty of the School of Journalism and New Media in November 2017, he initiated conversations with the airline that resulted in the realization of a very mutually beneficial goal: the airline’s desire for their employees to learn IMC at a U.S. university, and the
school’s desire to expand the reach of its new online IMC master’s degree program. After more than a year of work, which required some very complicated legal and regulatory approvals – including hand-delivering documents between embassies, notarized signatures from government officials and more – the first cohort of Ethiopian Airlines employees began taking online IMC classes in January. “We are a success because of our customers, and because of our employees,” says Ethiopian Airlines Group Chief Executive Office Tewolde GebreMariam. “We value both, we take pride in both, and we invest in both. The IMC degree from Ole Miss will provide employees with new skills to better serve customers. It will help our employees to be the best they can be, which enhances the experience our customers receive.” The online IMC master’s replicates the curriculum of the residential master’s program, but with one big difference. To accommodate the schedules of working professionals, the courses are delivered in just 6-7 weeks instead of taking an entire semester, and without the need to ever set foot on campus in Oxford. This method of delivery is very attractive to
In his graduation speech at the University of Mississippi’s School of Journalism and New Media last May, Tewolde GebreMariam explained partnerships like the one between Ethiopian Airlines and the School of Journalism and New Media have the potential to bring Ethiopia and the U.S. closer together. But few people realize the airline’s already deep U.S. roots. Ethiopian Airlines was founded nearly 75 years ago with help from American carrier TWA. In the early years, the pilots, mechanics and managers at Ethiopian were actually TWA employees. In 1970, the TWA role shifted to that as an adviser, and in 1971 Ethiopian Airlines became independent of the American carrier.
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the airline employees – and any others – who will enroll in the program.
ETHIOPIA AND MISSISSIPPI
In addition to students and faculty visiting Ethiopia, airline leaders have visited Oxford – including GebreMariam, who was the school’s 2019 commencement speaker. In his remarks at the Tad Smith Coliseum, he alluded to a bond that both Ethiopians and Mississippians share. “There are many parallels between Ethiopia and Mississippi, one of them being they both are greatly misunderstood – and unfairly judged – by those who don’t know them well,” GebreMariam said. He explained that through there are misconceptions in the U.S., Africa is a continent of hope and aspiration – rich in natural resources and with a young population – which presents tremendous opportunities for partnerships like the one with Ole Miss. Initiatives like the ones in the works “will bring your school and our company – and the country of Ethiopia and the United States of America – closer together,” he told the audience.
THE TRIP
The campaign students who traveled to Ethiopia spent about as much time in the air getting
there and back as they spent on the ground, but it was a remarkable and eye-opening experience made possible by the donation of airfare by the airline. After 30 hours of travel, the group arrived at the hotel in Addis Ababa at 3:00 a.m. local time, then began the day at the airline headquarters a few hours later. Ethiopian Airlines runs an accredited Aviation Academy that for six decades has focused on training pilots, cabin crews and flight attendants, maintenance workers, sales and marketing employees and executive leaders not only for their own operation, but for many other African airlines as well. Each year, thousands of individuals graduate from the academy. The IMC students met with airline officials to discuss the campaign, then toured the academy. The visit included a “ride” in a full-scale model plane that simulates emergencies, and a stint taking the controls in one of the actual cockpit simulators used by pilots. They also toured the Ethiopian Airlines Skylight Hotel, a brand-new 1000-room luxury hotel recently opened by the airline, and were invited to a dinner and party the airline happened to be hosting in Addis Ababa that weekend for hundreds of their employees from around the world. Remarkably, some of the airline executives also joined the students for dinner at a popular Ethiopian nightclub. The trip also included a tour of the capital city, with stops at Holy Trinity Church (where King Halle Selassie and other prominent Ethiopian figures are buried), Taitu Hotel (the first hotel in Addis Ababa, named after Empress Taitu), Mount Entoto, Addis Ababa University, a marketplace, a coffeehouse, various souvineer shops and other places. Around midnight on the third day, the group boarded one of the airline’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft to begin their journey back
Left: A view of Mount Entoto; Above: Addis Ababa University; Right: students and faculty enjoy a meal in Addis Ababa as they delve into another aspect of Ethiopian culture.
to Oxford.
TRAGEDY
Exactly one week to the day after departing Ethiopia, the unthinkable happened. Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 crashed a few minutes after takeoff from Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa.
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Scan this symbol to see the IMC student campaign presentations to Ethiopia Airlines.
Any airline crash is tragic, but this one hit especially close to home for those who had just been on the trip. The crash site was very close to a resort area the students had dined at the previous Sunday. CEO GebreMariam – the man who they had just visited, dined and danced with – was now suddenly in the news all over the world. Relatives of the victims gathered at the Skylight Hotel the students had just toured. The employees they met and the airline they felt close to were deeply affected. And the country they had just fast fallen in love with was grieving. There was no chance the students might have been on the ill-fated plane – Flight 302 was on a short trip to Nairobi. The cause was determined to be a problem with the aircraft itself, the model of which was quickly (and remains) grounded around the world. (Interestingly, the students had experienced the flight simulators that some people were accusing the airline of not having.)
Despite the emotions of the tragedy, the students moved forward with the campaign and were resolved more than ever to help the airline tell a story they passionately and unequivocally believed in. It also provided an opportunity for the students to understand firsthand how crisis communications and public relations work.
THE FUTURE
Ethiopian Airlines and the School of Journalism and New Media will continue to look for additional ways to partner. For example, there have been discussions about offering leadership training, as well as workshops in social media, crisis communications and other topics, to airline employees and members of the Aviation Academy. And at some point, initatives with others schools and departments at Ole Miss may develop. There is tremendous potential to take the partnership to the next level using the foundation that has been built.
“There are many parallels between Ethiopia and Mississippi, one of them being they both are greatly misunderstood – and unfairly judged – by those who don’t know them well” — Tewolde GebreMariam
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EN ROUTE
FLOODING
Close to Home MISSISSIPPI JOURNALISM STUDENTS TRAVELED WITHIN THE STATE TO INTERVIEW RESIDENTS ABOUT HOW THE RECENT FLOODS HAD AFFECTED THEIR LIVES STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY MICHAEL FAGANS
A side road off of State Route 278 flooded at the north end of the Delta.
T
his summer, as I was teaching JOUR 456 (Journalism Innovation/Captone), Deans Norton and Wenger suggested that I take my students down to the southern end of the Mississippi Delta to cover the ongoing flood. An area approximately the size of the state of Rhode Island, 500,000 acres, was flooded and 400,000 acres of that was farmland. I could tell you in pedagogical terms why this was an inspired idea or I could have the students tell you in their own words. I suspect you can guess what might be more effective.
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Upper left: The road to this homestead flooded despite the sandbag effort of the owners along State Route 61 between the towns of Valley Park and Redwood. Left: The Sardis Lake reservoir was filled beyond capacity through the summer and this enterprising fisherman took off his boots before fishing from the parking lot guardrail.
Left: A drone captured this image of a flooded home to the west of State Route 61 near the town of Smedes.
A truck drives out into the flooded parking lot of the Sardis Lake reservoir, northwest of Oxford.
Left: Michael Lawrence interviews flood victim Richard Turner, who had to use a boat to visit his flooded retirement home that had been flooded. A trash fire is burning in the background.
“The group that I was with that day each focused on print journalism, which was quite different than my broadcast journalism experience. It was interesting being able to collaborate with and see the different journalistic processes.”
—Madison Aman
“I have never been ‘at the scene’ like that before. The Delta trip wasn’t just a field trip – it was an
experience and milestone for me as a journalist.” —Millicent French
“I really enjoyed the opportunity of being able to go into the Mississippi Delta. It really took me outside of the comfort zone when it came to reporting. It also taught me to improve my interview skills, and working with people you never met in a totally different region really opened my eyes. ” —Michael Lawrence
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Looking for a career in
marketing communications? Get a step ahead through Ole Miss AMA. The American Marketing Association chapter at Ole Miss exists to connect students and prepare them for marketing careers. We strive to keep our focus on the benefit of our members by providing them with valuable career information, industry resources, and leadership opportunities. Ole Miss AMA provides the opportunity to get involved, network with peers, and learn from marketing professionals. Our chapter holds a wide range of events and activities. From LinkedIn workshops to national competitions, we provide events that matter.
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olemiss snd THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI STUDENT CHAPTER OF THE SOCIETY FOR NEWS DESIGN
(less news, MORE DESIGN)
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Book Report
ILLUSTRATION BY ELLEN KELLUM
Published works by School of Journalism and New Media alumni and current faculty
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BOOK REPORT
Midnight Train from Mississippi JIM WEATHERLY THE REMARKABLE STORY OF AN ALL-SEC QUARTERBACK AND HIS JOURNEY TO THE SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME
BY JEFF ROBERSON
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF JIM WEATHERLY
THROUGH THE YEARS I have had people tell me, “Jeff, you need to write a book.” I never gave it that much thought until earlier this decade when a familiar voice suggested it. “Jeff, let’s write a book,” Jim Weatherly said. Jim, or Jimmy as we’ve always called him in our family, is a first cousin of mine. We had just finished a podcast on a new venture called Rebel Sports Radio. I was hosting a show with Scott Spencer, a radio personality from north Mississippi. My fulltime job was editor of the Ole Miss Midnight Train Spirit sports magazine and website. Jimmy was the guest for my segment Jim Weatherly that day. After we were done and the hot mics were off, he popped the question. I didn’t have an answer right away. “Let me think about it,” I said. I had interviewed him through the years for high school reports, college features and magazine stories in my professional life as a sportswriter, but he had never talked about doing a book with him. Several months later, I was watching a television show with Gladys Knight cooking from her Atlanta restaurant. She was singing “Midnight Train to Georgia” as she walked through the kitchen and dining areas. “What are you waiting for?” I thought, and called Jimmy the next day. “I’m ready,” I said.
THE MAKING OF A WINNER
Jim Weatherly played quarterback at Ole Miss in the early 1960s and then moved on to a Hall of Fame songwriting career in Los Angeles and later Nashville. He grew up in Pontotoc, just half an hour’s drive from Oxford. He was an Ole Miss fan from the time he was very young, but he never
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gave any thought to playing football for the Rebels. He actually didn’t think he was good enough. When he was offered a scholarship after a successful high school career at quarterback, he jumped at the chance. Ole Miss was in its greatest era of football. Coach Johnny Vaught and staff were leading the Southeastern Conference in league titles and bowl appearances. The 1962 season, Jimmy’s sophomore year, remains the only perfect season in the program’s history. Ten times the Rebels teed it up. Ten times they won. A Southeastern Conference crown and a Sugar Bowl victory were their rewards, along with a national championship title from the Football Writers Association of America. However, 1962 was not a typical year. On a late September Sunday, the campus became ground zero in the civil rights movement. James Meredith was admitted to the University of Mississippi, but not before there was rioting, bloodshed, and death, and the campus soon was occupied by U.S. marshals and the National Guard. Through all the chaos, the football team remained focused on the season and on moving through the semester academically. The Walk of Champions archway in the Grove, with every name of the 1962 team listed on a plaque, is a lasting reminder of their resiliency, talent and focus. Their record was perfect. The following season in 1963, Ole Miss again won the SEC and played in the Sugar Bowl. In 1964, Jimmy’s senior season, the Rebels were preseason No. 1 in nearly every national publication and poll. But they lost several close games, and the decade of finishing among the nation’s top teams came to an end. Jimmy was still named second-team All-SEC quarterback behind Alabama’s Joe Namath.
TOPPING THE CHARTS
Jimmy grew up with music. A lot of it he made himself. By age 12 he was writing songs. In fact, his grandmother said as early as 5 he
JIM WEATHERLY
As a performer, Weatherly reached No. 6 on the pop charts in the mid-1970s with “The Need to Be.” But songwriting became his trademark. He is known best for writing “Midnight Train to Georgia” and other Gladys Knight hits. As a songwriter/musician in Los Angeles and Nashville, Weatherly has written songs for a number of top artists, including Dean Martin, Aretha Franklin, Peter Cetera, Neil Diamond and Garth Brooks. Glen Campbell had a No. 1 hit with Weatherly’s “A Lady Like You.”
was making up cowboy songs like the ones he heard at the movies or on radio. He started a rock band in high school and another one in college. After his college football career, that band of Ole Miss guys moved to Los Angeles seeking fame and fortune. They became a major group in the Hollywood scene but eventually split up to find their own paths in life. After struggles and rejections, Jim’s solo songwriting career finally took off, especially when Gladys Knight and the Pips recorded several of the songs he had written. They had chart-topping hits with “Neither One of Us,” “Midnight Train to Georgia,” and “You’re the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me.” The first two were Grammy winners. In 2014, Jim Weatherly was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York City, the highest honor for anyone in his chosen profession.
SHARING THE STORY
I’m glad I made the phone call to Jimmy’s Brentwood, Tenn., home the day after watching Gladys Knight cook and sing on that TV show. It was the year before he was inducted in New York. Other accolades and honors began to roll in for his lifetime of achievement in music. Midnight Train, our book, could have been written at any point in his career, but our timing was good. The book is written in first person. It begins its journey in Mississippi in the 1940s and rolls with Jimmy throughout his time in Oxford, Hollywood, and Nashville. It reveals and recounts Jimmy’s intriguing path of perseverance, endurance and ultimate success. I’ve been pleased to share the ride. It’s been quite a trip.
Weatherly played for legendary Ole Miss Coach Johnny Vaught as an All-Southeastern Conference quarterback and honorable mention All-American on the 1964 team. He was also a member of the only unbeaten and untied national championship squad in University of Mississippi history in 1962 — a team that captured the SEC championship that year and again in 1963. Weatherly is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and also the recipient of a Mississippi Governor’s Award.
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BOOK REPORT
The Accidental Cookbook Writer SUSAN PUCKETT THIS JOURNALISM SCHOOL ALUM AND SELF-STYLED CULINARY STORYTELLER HAS COOKED UP A REWARDING CAREER AS A FOOD WRITER
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When Susan Puckett wrote a best-selling cookbook, at age 23, she had almost no cooking skills. What she did have was a keen interest in authentic local cuisine and the stories attached to it — and a journalism degree from the University of Mississippi, class of ’77. Puckett, who had worked on the staff of The Daily Mississippian, landed a job at her hometown newspaper, the Clarion-Ledger, right after graduation. As a general reporter and feature writer, she gravitated toward stories related to Southern culture and traditions, especially those that revolved around food. “I was always interested in dying traditions, like grist mills,” Puckett said. “This was way back in the dark ages and the Clarion-Ledger didn’t really have a food section at the time. They decided to start one, and I happened to be available. I didn’t know anything about cooking, I just approached it like a feature writer. I wrote about cooks and chefs’ stories — I was mainly interested in the foodways, in dying food traditions.” At that time, the Clarion-Ledger was owned by the Hederman family and run by Rea and Angela Hederman. It was Angela’s idea to collect Puckett’s stories with recipes and publish them. The book, A Cook’s Tour of Mississippi, was edited and designed by
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BY ALLISON ESTES
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ELLEN KELLUM
Angela and published by the Hedermans in 1980. With an introduction by Willie Morris, and contributions from Eudora Welty’s family and the Faulkners, the book took off, and quickly gained national attention. “Pretty much when they published it, over the course of that year, it sold really well,” Puckett said. “That’s when I went, ‘I don’t really want this to end.’ I didn’t want to cover boring city council meetings. I decided I wanted to be a food writer, and so I’d better learn to cook, and that’s what I did.” Other than learning to cook, so she could test recipes, Puckett was unsure what her next step should be. But she had kept in touch with Dean Will Norton, Jr., so she reached out to him for advice. “The professors just cared so much about the students, even after we graduated,” Puckett said. “With Dr. Norton, it’s been over 40 years now, and every career move I think I’ve consulted with him. They really invested in our careers.” Norton, who was Puckett’s adviser in her journalism school days, describes her as “intelligent and driven.” “Her career is evidence of a life force and focused energy that is exceptional,” Norton said. “Really (the Hedermans) saw her potential and let her run, and she has
come home a winner time after time, telling the story of food in an uncommon but appealing manner.” When Puckett told Norton she thought she had found her calling as a food writer, Norton knew just where to send her. At the time, Iowa State University had a program called “home economics journalism.” At Norton’s suggestion, Puckett enrolled in the program. “I wasn’t trying to become a clinical dietitian,” Puckett said. “I just wanted to learn enough to be able to write about food. I was taking all these science and chemistry classes, and I was worried about my writing getting rusty.” That was when she had the idea for her second book. Still savoring the success of A Cook’s Tour of Mississippi, Puckett thought, “Why not Iowa?” and started collecting stories and recipes for a similar book. But this time the road to publication was a little bumpier and a whole lot longer. “(The book) went through some harsh rejections,” Puckett said. “I had pitched it to Iowa State Press. The editor there was supersupportive, but it did not make it past the committee. They wanted to do more broader-interest books, and maybe cookbooks. That really prompted me to go out and buy a home
SUSAN PUCKETT THE REVIEW
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BOOK REPORT
computer. By that time I had been working as a food writer. And I ended up pretty much starting from scratch and retesting each recipe.” Finally, eight years after A Cook’s Tour of Mississippi, after lots of retesting and revision, A Cook’s Tour of Iowa was published by the University of Iowa Press. The book earned recognition in both The New York Times Book Review and Gourmet magazine. Puckett says all those bumps along the way ended up being stepping stones for her in a lifelong career. She has written about food for The Plain Dealer, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, The Philadelphia Inquirer, National Geographic Traveler, The Local Palate, Saveur, Country Living and Atlanta magazine. She was food editor for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for close to 19 years, is a member of the Southern Foodways Alliance, and has written or collaborated on 11 books. “With each book I learn new things,” Puckett said. “I think, ‘This book is gonna be a breeze.’ They never are, but that’s what keeps it interesting.” Puckett seems to have a knack for nosing out the work of chefs whose culinary
“With each book I learn new things. I think, ‘This book is gonna be a breeze.’ They never are, but that’s what keeps it interesting.” — Susan Puckett leanings have timeless and global relevance. In Citizen Farmer, she writes about biodynamic farming and community gardening with organic farmer Daron Joffe. In Root to Leaf, written with Stephen Satterfield, she takes on the “no waste” philosophy of cooking. “I’ve been very fortunate in that the chefs had a story that went beyond their business or their restaurant,” Puckett said. Turnip Greens & Tortillas, written with Eddie Hernandez, combines recipes of the new South with a moving, compelling story of the American dream: Young Eddie Hernandez leaves Mexico with his band to seek fame, fortune, and a recording deal in Texas. The band fizzles, and he ends up in Atlanta, waiting tables at a Mexican restaurant. The food is crap, and he tells the owner so. Instead of firing him, the owner promotes him to chef. Under Hernandez, the restaurant, Taqueria del Sol, becomes a giant success. Rux Martin was Puckett’s editor on Turnip Greens & Tortillas, and vice president and editorial director of Rux Martin Books (an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), publisher of the book. She was first taken by the title, and then captivated by the recipes and the subject matter. But Martin also wanted to publish the book for another reason beyond the wonderful food. “This is a story that just couldn’t happen today,” Martin said. “In our
current political climate, Eddie probably wouldn’t have been allowed into our country. I find that heartbreaking. Think of how much less rich and vital our food would be without him and other immigrants like him.” Puckett’s most recent book, The Deep End of Flavor, is a sustainable seafood cookbook written with chef Tenney Flynn, co-owner of GW Fins in New Orleans. “Tenney is a scuba diver and a deep sea fisherman,” Puckett said. “He is passionate about educating people on invasive species, like lionfish, fish beyond the usual, and getting people cooking seafood.” Both Flynn and Martin describe Puckett as a gifted collaborator. “She tested a lot of the recipes,” Flynn said. “To me that was the most tedious part of the whole process, making sure they worked. She definitely went above and beyond many, many times.” “Most chefs have no idea how to make the recipes they cook into friendly proportions and easy procedures that the rest of us can follow,” Martin said. “They have sous chefs working under them and often can get specialized ingredients that ordinary cooks can’t. Susan tests the recipes again and again to simplify things so we get the same results that the chef does.” Lately, Puckett has been consulting on a branding project that has brought her back to her early interests as a cub reporter. The Old Mill in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, is a collection of businesses built around a working grist mill that has been grinding grain for 200 years. There are restaurants, a candy shop, a distillery and a creamery. Puckett is doing for The Old Mill what she does best — helping others share their stories rooted in food.
Susan Puckett is a member of the Southern Foodways Alliance, the International Association of Culinary Professionals, the James Beard Foundation and the Association of Food Journalists.
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The South the Beautiful Cookbook General editor, Collins Publishers 1996
A Cook’s Tour of Mississippi Author, Mississippi Publishers Corporation 1980
A Cook’s Tour of Iowa Author, University of Iowa Press, 1988 The 5:30 Challenge: 5 Ingredients, 30 Minutes, Dinner on the Table Co-author with Jeanne Besser, Simon & Schuster, 2005
Citizen Farmers: The Biodynamic Way to Grow Healthy Eat Drink Delta: A Hungry Traveler’s Food, Build Thriving Communities, and Journey Through Give Back to the Soul of the the Earth South Author, University of Co-author with Daron “Farmer D” Joffe Georgia Press Abrams, 2014 2013
The Ultimate Barbecue Sauce Cookbook: Your Guide to the Best Sauces, Rubs, Sops, Mops, and Marinades Co-author with Jim Auchmutey Longstreet Press 1995
Root to Leaf: A Southern Chef Cooks Through the Seasons Local editor and writing coach for author Steven Satterfield, Harper Wave 2015
Dips: Great Recipes for Spreads, Salsas, Fondues and Other Party Fare Author, Longstreet Press, 1995
Turnip Greens & Tortillas: A Mexican Chef Spices Up the Southern Kitchen Co-author with Eddie Hernandez, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2018
The Deep End of Flavor: Recipes and Stories from New Orleans’ Premier Seafood Chef Co-author with Tenney Flynn, Gibbs Smith, 2019
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CLASS NOTES
Class Notes In the following pages, we are excited to share news and updates from your fellow alumni. To have your class note featured in an upcoming issue, email us at slgriff@olemiss.edu. We look forward to hearing from you.
Elizabeth Beaver Batte, 2013, BA Jour of Thibodaux, LA, Electronic Resources Librarian and OER Coordinator at Nicholls State University. Emily Teresa Roland, 2013, BA Jour of Memphis, TN, 2019 received her Master’s of Science in Education, at Johns Hopkins University. Manager of media operations for Memphis Rise Academy school network. Paul G. Katool, 2011, BA Jour of Jackson, MS, Digital Media Manager at the Mississippi Department of Transportation. Brittany L. Tuggle, 2011, BA Jour of Southaven, MS, Assistant Director of Annual Giving, Rhodes College.
2010 – 2018 Jerome D. Trahan, 2018, BBA BUS of Thibodaux, LA, Electronic Resources Librarian and OER Coordinator at Nicholls State University.
Virginia Mayo Coan, 2015, BA Jour of Atlanta, GA, Associate Manager, Public Relations & Social Media, Newell Brands.
Taylor Bennett, 2016, BA Jour of New York, NY, Associate Account Director at Group SJR (WPP Marketing Firm).
Robert Palmer Smith, 2015, BA Jour of Atlanta, GA, Developing and orchestrating the training and onboarding for a SaaS platform in the construction and home improvement industry.
Michael Borkey, 2016, BA Jour of Madison, MS, Afternoon Sports Radio Host on Mississippi SuperTalk, a 13-station radio network. Madeline E. Lawo, 2016, BA Jour of Dallas, TX, Senior Account Manager, The it Crowd Marketing Agency. Michael Edward Fant, 2015, BFA Theater of Jackson, MS, Videographer at Mississippi Public Broadcasting. Patrick Ryan Salter, 2015, BA Jour of Ft. Worth, TX, Executive Search Recruiter, RGP.
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Robert Eldridge Leigh, 2015, BA Jour of Boston, MA, FedEx Sales.
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Katie Nicole Eubanks, 2014, BA Jour of Jackson, MS, Publisher and editor of Mississippi Christian Living magazine. Adam Michael Ganucheau, 2014, BA Jour of Jackson, MS, Reporter, Mississippi Today (mississippitoday. org), a nonprofit news and media organization. Heather Magee McGregor, 2014, BA Jour of Tunica, MS, CSR/Loan Assistant.
Benjamin K. Tucker, 2011, BBA Mgmt. of Corinth, MS, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Magnolia Regional Health Center.
2000 – 2009 Peter C. Kelly, 2008, BA Jour of Houston, TX, Production designer for films, music videos, and television commercials. Erica F. Davis, 2007, BA Jour of Hattiesburg, MS, Morning Show Producer, WDAM-TV. Emmett H. McClary, 2007, BA Jour of Gulfport, MS, Retired professor, Mississippi Valley State. Deborah N. Laster, 2006, BA Jour of Grenada, MS, Managing Editor, Grenada Star. June C. Straight, 2006, BA Jour of El Paso, TX, Journalism Teacher, Yearbook Adviser and commercial pho-
tography teacher, Parkland High School, El Paso, TX. Lance A. Sipes 2006, BA Jour of Oxford, MS, Medical Device Sales, Johnson and Johnson. Sarah Sloan Hollis, 2004, MA Jour of Hernando, MS, Senior Vice-President of Engagement, Palmer Home for Children. Dr. Summer Hill-Vinson, 2004, BA Jour, MA of Jour, of Oxford, MS, Adjunct Professor at University of Mississippi. Sarah C. Sapp, 2004, BBA Mktg, of Oxford, MS, Manager of Marketing and Communications, The School of Applied Sciences, The University of Mississippi. Claire Nelson Hick, 2003, BA Jour, CEO, Longleaf Hospital, Alexandria, LA. Adjunct Associate Professor in Integrated Marketing Communications, University of Mississippi. Jason L. Collum, 2002, BA Jour of Tupelo, MS, Owner/publisher, The Baldwyn News (Mississippi), Rent List magazine and www.rent-list.net of Tupelo/Oxford/Starkville, and The Red Bay News (Alabama). William B. Sappington, 2001, BA Jour of Booneville, MS, Managing Editor, The Banner-Independent. Selena Lejean Standifer, 2001, BA Radio/TV of Brandon, MS, 17-year Public Relations veteran. American Red Cross.
1990 – 1999 Ashley Tinnin Frazier, 1998, BA Jour of Memphis, TN, Formerly
Account Manager at Chandler Ehrlich Advertising Agency and Communications Director at the Memphis Area Association of Realtors Trade Association. Peter J. Cleary, 1996, BA Jour of Oxford, MS, Web developer, Institute
of Child Nutrition, The University of Mississippi. Principal at Cleary Design, LLC, a web and digital marketing business. Micah Ginn, 1996, BA Radio/TV of Oxford, MS, Associate AD of Sports Productions and Creative Services at
ALUMNI PROFILE
Sarah Liese, BA’ 19
Broadcast Journalism Sarah Liese is a recent graduate from the University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media, who is pursuing an Ole Miss Producer in Residence Fellowship at WLOX-TV in Biloxi, Mississippi. From scriptwriting to creating graphics to timing an entire show, she is gaining hands-on producer training in all areas. Digital producing is another area the station has allowed her to experiment with. This position has refined her AP writing and video editing skills. It has also caused her to tap into her creative side when she schedules teases to post on social media platforms. However, the most valuable skills Liese believes she has acquired is her adaptability to execute whatever task is thrown at her. Whether it be paying attention to the police scanner and taking notes on a local fire or calling sources to verify the facts, it is vital to roll with the punches and verify that the news produced is updated and factual. If Liese had to offer any advice to current students anxious about the future, she would say to continue contact with former professors. “After graduation, I took a job in sales, and I am not the type of person who is fulfilled by a job that does not align with my passions,” Liese said. “So I reached out to previous professors from Ole Miss, and they took care of me. Dr. Wenger helped set up this producing fellowship, and Ji Hoon Heo pushed me to network with professionals when he invited me to be a mentor for current Ole Miss students at the 2019 Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar.” Had it not been for her professors’ support, Liese said she might still be miserable in her former job. Therefore, she believes it is essential for students to reach out to former professors, seek their advice and see what happens. “It is never too late to go after what you want and to utilize all the resources you have,” Liese said. “If you have professionals willing to help, don’t pass up that opportunity. Continue to strive towards your next goal, follow your intuition and create content you’re proud of.”
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CLASS NOTES
Ole Miss. He and his team produce all forms of video and graphic production, and have garnered over 20 awards and citations in the three years he’s overseen the department. Chris Holcomb, 1995, BA Radio/TV of Fayetteville, GA, Instructor at Southern Crescent Technical College and a dual Enrollment Film Instructor Fayette County Schools in Fayetteville, GA (the heart of the Georgia Film Industry). Christopher J. Latimer, 1995, BA Radio/TV of Oxford, MS, Attorney at Mitchell, McNutt & Sams. Sharyn Alfonsi, 1994, BA Radio/TV of New York, NY, Correspondent, 60 Minutes. James T. Tisdale, 1994, BA Jour of Hattiesburg, MS, PhD, Senior Major Gift Officer, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS. Bateman Underwood, 1994 BA Jour of Tupelo, MS. Steven D. Diffey, 1993, BA Jour of Goodman, MS, District Director of Communications and Associate Athletic Director for External Relations at Holmes Community College. Before coming to Holmes, Diffey worked in the newspaper business for five years - two in Winona at the Winona Times and three in McComb at the Enterprise-Journal. David Dillard, 1992, BA Jour/Advertising of Tupelo, MS, Owner, Total Production Services, LLC, Tupelo, MS. contracting with Ole Miss Athletics to provide production services for SEC Network broadcasts that originate from campus.
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Lyndy Berryhill, BA’ 18 Journalism
This recent graduate has been featured in the fourth season of the television series Death Row Stories that airs on HLN. Berryhill has written and edited for more than 10 community newspapers and served as editor-in-chief of The Daily Mississippian. She currently lives north of Gulfport and freelances for local newspapers and magazines as well as writing and reporting on four continents. She most recently worked as an investigative reporter for CNN’s Death Row Stories, and was an undercover journalist for a documentary series that airs on BBC’s Channel Four. “I always took the hardest teachers I could at Ole Miss, and it continues to pay dividends,” said Berryhill. “I came away with more than a piece of paper when I graduated because of the quality of instruction I was able to study under in the journalism school.” To freelancers, she would like to give them a hug. If you know a freelancer, they need it. Berryhill knows it’s not easy being entirely independent, and it takes twice the work to line up features and projects that are worthwhile. In general, she tries to take every writing opportunity she can if it fits in her schedule. “At first, I took writing jobs even when they were low-paying, which is not ideal,” said Berryhill. “But because I stuck with it and continued writing, those small jobs have actually helped me garner larger, better-paying gigs.”
William D. Glenn, 1992, BA Jour of Pascagoula, MS, Corporate Communications Manager, Huntington Ingalls Industries, Pascagoula, MS. Play-by-play announcer of Pascagoula Panther football since 1998 and currently broadcasting the games on Newstalk 104.9 FM. Currently VP of communications for the United Way of Jackson and George Counties and board member of the American Heart Association Marketing Agency. Scott Overby, 1991, of Jackson, MS, 1992 Graduate, Communications, George Mason University. Principal Broker, Overby, Inc. Mark W. Brock, 1990, BA Jour of Decatur, GA, Athletics Specialist for Media Relations (17th year),De Kalb Co., GA School District Ath-
letics, promoting 17 sports in 19 high schools via website, Twitter and media contacts in print and broadcast. This includes compiling stats, stories and photos from athletic events. Britt A. Fitts, 1990, BA Jour of Oxford, MS, works at a Nashville based audio/visual company.
1980 – 1989 Toni Lepeska, 1989, BA Jour of Byhalia, MS, Contributor to Grief Dialogues: The Book, a collection of essays, poems and plays. A former Commercial Appeal staff writer, Toni is a freelance writer and blogger whose work appears in various publications, including The Daily Memphian. Her essays on grief won honorable mention in the inspira-
tional category two consecutive years in the Writer’s Digest national contest.
Kathleen Ferguson, 1982, BA Jour of Memphis, TN, Communications Specialists with FedEx since 1986.
Kathy Kavelman Martin, 1988, BA Jour/Advertising of Colierville, TN, Teacher, Briarcrest Christian School and a freelance writer.
Dr. Elinor Grusin, 1982, MA Jour of Germantown, TN, Professor Emeritus, The University of Memphis.
Stephanie Boone Raper, 1988, BA Jour/Advertising of Grenada, MS, Teacher, Graphic Design: Yearbook Adviser. Columnist for the Grenada School District in The Grenada Star. Kevin J. Seddon, 1998, BA Jour of Oxford, MS, President, Sanus Enterprises, a business development and strategic marketing company that provides or has provided marketing and consultation services for a multitude of companies. Advisory Board Member of the University of Mississippi’s School of Journalism and also an adjunct professor. Ronda M. Gooden, 1987, BA Jour/ Advertising of Jackson, MS, Communications Director for AARP Mississippi. Melissa A. Charbonneau, 1986, BA Radio/TV, Director, Corporate Reputation, Royal Carribean Cruises, Ltd. William Moak, 1986, BA Jour of Jackson, MS, Chair and Assistant Professor of Communication, Belhaven University, Jackson, MS. Karen Evers, 1984, BA Jour/Advertising of Jackson, MS, Managing Editor, MSMA Journal of the Mississippi State Medical Association. Gabrielle G. Cooper, 1982, BA Jour of Beldon, MS, Partner in MSmade Jewelry; Retired Private Banker with Renasant Bank.
David M. Yawn, 1981, BA Jour of Dallas, TX, Accomplished author; editor of books and corporate and trade magazines; former senior staff member of the Memphis Business Journal. Brent S. Hudspeth, 1980, BBA Marketing of Atlanta, GA, Regional Attorney, Federal Labor Relations Authority. James Tew, 1980, BA Radio/TV of Jackson, MS, Director, Administrative Services, Mississippi Public Utilities Staff.
1970 – 1979 Susan G. Christensen, 1979, BA Jour of Brandon, MS, Public Relations Director, Methodist Rehabilitation Center. Gary Lee Ragland, 1978, BA Marketing of Madison, MS, Godwin Group, VP/Director of Public Relations, Jackson, MS. Karen Crenshaw Swenson, 1978, BA Jour of Atlanta, GA, Librarian and using writing skills to promote adult and volunteer programs in the North Fulton/Atlanta area. R. Dudley Marble, 1976, BA Jour of Madison, MS, Retired. Former Sports Editor, Greenwood Commonwealth and Jackson Daily News. Development, Millsaps College, Jackson, MS.
Margaret Ann Wilson, 1975, BA Jour/ Advertising of Atlanta, GA, Principal, Maywood Marketing & Communications, Global Brand Strategist, The Bloodhound Group. Cynthia Dixon Conner-Burnett, 1973, BA Jour of Cordova, TN, Retired, Communications Director at FedEx. Currently teaching fellow for Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship, teaching comms courses around the country. Occasional consultant and writer for local publications. Kenneth Holt Oilschlager, 1971, BA Jour of Oxford, MS, Retired. Economic Development Business.
1950 – 1959 William T. Miles, 1959, BA Jour of Fulton, MS, Retired after a lengthy career in community newspapers in NE Mississippi, (Tupelo and Amory) advertising, public relations and consulting located in Tupelo (Bill Miles Associates, Inc.) 12 years as a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives representing District 21. Betty Back Mileski, 1957, BA Jour of Greensboro, GA, Retired.
Landing your first job out of college can be challenging. That’s why the University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media has created a jobs website to help, but many people aren’t aware it exists. Business leaders throughout the state and country are encouraged to submit job, internship, fellowship, scholarship and other opportunities to our students at www.jnmjobs.com
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THE LAST WORD
In Memory of Harold Burson 1921 - 2020
BY LAREECA RUCKER
U
niversity of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media faculty members are proud to have known Harold Burson, a UM graduate who founded Burson-Marsteller, a company that grew to become the world’s largest public relations firm. The World War II veteran, who died Jan. 10 at age 98, was a friend and colleague to many. Just this past October, Burson visited the school to sign copies of his book The Business of Persuasion and spoke to a room of faculty and students during a presentation moderated by Senior Lecturer Robin Street, who specializes in public relations and integrated marketing communications. “One of the greatest joys in my teaching career was the chance to spend time with Harold Burson, and even better, to have him speak to my students several times,” Street said via email, adding that his name and significance in the PR world are among the first things she teaches her students in the Introduction to Public Relations class. “I tell them that what Elvis Presley was to rock and roll, Burson was to PR,” she said. “He truly helped the profession evolve, change and grow. . . This man was a giant in the PR world. Yet, he was soft-spoken and humble when he spoke to students. After he spoke, he always patiently posed for photo after photo with the students.” Burson got his start as a writer for The Daily Mississippian and later became one of the most influential public relations figures in the world. He spent more than 50 years
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serving CEOs, government leaders, and heads of public sector units. This week, his life has been chronicled in national newspapers and on websites such as PR Week, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. Burson, who spoke to faculty and signed copies of his book before addressing students in the Overby Center, was born in 1921. He said his father came to the United States from England and served in the British Army before establishing a career in the cotton business. Ellen Meacham, a professor with the School of Journalism and New Media, said Burson covered the Nuremberg trials for the American Forces Network as a 24-year-old radio journalist. “His work stands as an essential witness to both the atrocities of the Nazis and the values that the U.S. aimed to uphold,” she said. “As he spent days and days watching the documents and footage taken by the Nazi’s themselves from the concentration camps entered into evidence, it must have taken a tremendous personal emotional toll, yet his demeanor and writing remained unshakably professional.” Meacham said the scripts he wrote demonstrate timeless journalistic values, the same ones professors try to teach today. “Tell the truth as best you can,” she said. “Tell it square, without fear or favor. Know your audience. Help them understand what they want to know and what they need to know. Make them see, hear, and, most importantly, FEEL the story. Be the witness to history and write its first draft. He set a great example for generations to come.”
Burson told faculty during the fall that when he decided to create his own business in the 1930s, he wrote a letter to a potential businessman asking him to be his first client. The recipient agreed and found Burson an additional client. Six years later, he had a team of five employees. Throughout his career, he worked on many important projects at the local, state, and federal level. One of his most high-profile PR cases happened in the 1980s when he was hired by pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson after news broke that several people had died after bottles of Tylenol were found to have been tainted by cyanide. Burson discussed the case in the Overby Center, explaining that it was not just a threat to the pharmaceutical industry; it was also dangerous for the entire food industry whose products could be easily penetrated with needles, etc. Street said she has taught about this classic crisis case for years but didn’t know Burson was the PR expert helping with it until he casually mentioned it one day. “The last time he spoke was in October, and he held the rapt attention of a room full of college students,” she said. “That is something even few professors can do.” Although she met him only a few times, Meacham said Burson made a deep impression on her. “He had an intense focus, on you, on the business at hand, and on the larger context,” she said. “He seemed to notice everything and remember every detail. He was a great storyteller, too, which is what made him, early on, a good reporter and, later on, a public relations visionary.” Will Norton Jr., dean of the School of Journalism and New Media, described Burson as a quiet man who was incredibly insightful about human nature. He was a man of integrity who wasn’t afraid of anything, he said. “His company created integrated marketing communications,” he said. “The IMC field is his legacy to our world.” In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that those who wish to celebrate Burson’s life and lessons to make a donation to the Harold Burson Legacy Scholarship Fund at the School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi.
School of Journalism and New Media Create Your Own Path
JOURNALISM
Writing Across Media Platforms
Communications Law
Magazine Media
WRITING Public Relations
Ethics
Branding
Sales
Sports Reporting
INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
Promotional Writing Interviewing
Market Research Business Communications
RESEARCH
REPORTING News Judgment
Newsgathering
Advertising Analysis Marketing Principles
VISUAL NEWSGATHERING
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VISUAL STORYTELLING
ILLUSTRATION BY ELLEN KELLUM
THE REVIEW
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THE REVIEW
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HIGHLIGHTS OF OVERBY CENTER GUEST SPEAKERS IN 2019
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE OVERBY CENTER
Peter J. Boyer returns to campus for a conversation with Charles Overby and Curtis Wilkie. Senior Lecturer Robin Street and UM alum Harold Burson discuss the everchanging world of Public Relations.
Scan this symbol to see Harold Burson speaking at the Overby Center.. Newspaper publisher Walter E. Hussman, Jr. discusses the future of news media with Charles Overby.
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