The Review: Issue 9 | 2020

THE REVIEW

■ NEW CURRICULUM

■ INTERVIEWS

UM SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA MAGAZINE

■ ALUMNI NEWS

2020

Adapt & Innovate

DEVELOPING A NEW PERSPECTIVE DURING AN UPRECEDENTED PANDEMIC

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GOOD NEWS FOR DIFFICULT TIMES No doubt about it, there’s been a lot of worry and stress in the world recently, but at the School of Journalism and New Media we are also using this moment to spark innovation and new ways of thinking. As we rise to meet new challenges this fall, I want to share some of the things we are again genuinely looking forward to in the year ahead: · Students! We have more than 1500 new and returning students who will be a part of our school because they are excited about learning and they understand that succeeding in this environment means they can tackle anything the future throws at them. · The new Political & Social Justice Reporting emphasis in our updated journalism curriculum is launching at a critical moment. The results of student work will be shared through our awardwinning Student Media Center, HottyToddy.com or in other school-sponsored media. · Our new Fashion Promotion & Media specialization is official this fall. It should help insure the future success of UMSquare.com – an online fashion magazine which has a staff of more than 60 students signed on for the fall semester. · We are seeing unprecedented interest in our graduate programs. Both the M.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications and the M.A. in Journalism are growing exponentially, and we’re offering more assistantships to students than ever before. Just as a church is not the building but the people, the School of Journalism and New Media is its students and staff, faculty, alumni and friends. We truly are stronger together! Dr. Debora Wenger Interim Dean/Professor

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Donors

We gratefully acknowledge these generous donors who provide support – Fiscal Year 2020

PATRON ($25,000+) Glenn Family Foundation Donna H. and T. M. Glenn R. Lyn Kieltyka William C. Shoemaker Leslie M. Westbrook and Paolo Frigerio BENEFACTOR ($10,000 TO $24,999) Cynthia M. and James D. Abbott Meredith Corporation Quad/Graphics, Inc. EXECUTIVE ($5,000 TO $9,999) Bonnier Corporation William I. Campbell Curtis Chin Jo A. Denley FedEx HQ FedEx Corporation Fedex Global Disbursements FedEx Ground Package System FedEx Services Issuu Inc. LSC Communications Andrea G. and Charles L. Overby Diane A. and Frederick W. Smith Myna D. and John M. Sowell Todd Starnes ADVOCATE ($2,500 TO $4,999) Advantage Circulation Consulting LLC Bauer Media Group USA, LLC Charities Aid Foundation of America Mary Lynn and Nick Kotz Elizabeth B. and Stanley E. Mileski Daniel Strouhal Curtis C. Wilkie, Jr. ASSOCIATE ($1,000 TO $2,499) Cynthia and J. Scott Coopwood Frontstream Panorama Workplace Inc.

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Deborah W. Hall Victor Han Mary A. and W. Patrick Harkins William Heyman Virginia T. and William J. Hickey III Robena K. and Walter E. Hussman, Jr. Kathy Starmann Capital Assets Fund Margaret D. and Robert C. Khayat Debra and Terry Mattingly Susan L. and H. W. Norton, Jr. Sanderson Farms Inc Kathy and Joe F. Sanderson, Jr. Schwab Charitable Fund Mary Lou and Norman H. Seawright, Jr. Stephanie M. and David F. Shy Richard G. Starmann The Hussman Foundation Don R. Vaughan Tracy and Larry D. Weeden, Sr. Debora R. and Mitchell R. Wenger STEWARD ($500 TO $999) Maralyn H. Bullion Laurie A. Heavey Carrie Liaskos Marcia Logan and C. D. Goodgame Mara Dru Hunter Redden Living Trust Maralyn B. Bullion Revocable Trust Nancy A. and Charles D. Mitchell Thomas Richards Jane A. and J. M. Tonos, Jr. W. W. Norton & Company Inc. SENIOR PARTNER ($250 TO $499) Avenir Global Stephen Barrett Tom Bearden Kaye H. Bryant Alice M. Clark Nancy M. and Joseph C. Dupont III Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund Robert L. Harter Sarah E. Jenne Gary Kolasa

Carlton M. Rhodes, Jr. Craig Rothenberg Nathan Showalter Kirk Stewart PARTNER ($100 TO $249) AT&T Corp. Employee Giving Programs c/o YourCause, LLC Joseph Berger Celia Berk Raymond Bly Odessa Brown-Davis Patrick Cannon Don Cogman Steven Crider Deborah S. and Jerry A. Davis William R. Day Steven C. Demlow Robin S. and Terry C. Ewert Michael J. Fagans Amy Federman Scott A. Fiene John Fossum Steve Frankel Laura Gongos Will Kane L. Hammons L. Kasimu Harris Rene Henry Judy and Augustus R. Jones Mark Kellner Mark Knutsen Lina Ko Timothy F. Kriehn Jack C. Lawton Barbara L. and Jeffrey T. Lawyer Douglas L. Leblanc James Lepkowski William Marsh Christine and Brian Mays Kathleen Mortell Alexander D. Myrick LaPorshia Newell K. Kellie Norton Richard N. Ostling Lois Pasternak

Gail M. and Robert K. Patterson Melody C. Patterson Thomas Reid Derek Roberts Tory L. Robertson-Susac Stephanie Q. and Charles C. Scott IV Clayton Sidenbender Gerhard Simmel Shelley Spector Kimberly Spragg Anne Strianese Anthony J. TaCito Donna Thompson Mary E. and William C. Voorhees William L. Wallace III Edward J. Webb, Jr. Kenneth M. Weightman Shellie Winkler Ralph Wood FRIEND ($1 TO $99) Bianca B. Abney Margaret D. and Robert J. Allen Angela M. and Ace Atkins Jane B. Barr Yvonne C. Biffle Kenneth Bockman Amber B. Bryant-Singletary Rachel Bryars Idil Cakim Joseph Carson Matthew Casserly Pamela B. and Bradley J. Clasgens Elisabeth L. Corbus Hastings F. Crockard Susan Davis Louisa O. Dixon and Wilton J. Johnson III Margaret K. Durnien Herbert Ely William J. Fisher Aniseya Freeman David Froehlich Thomas E. Goris III Thomas A. Grier Michael G. Harrison

Roland Hirsch Rebecca E. and W. David Hitt Mary-Katherine M. Horton James T. Howell IBM Employee Services Center Aidan A. Johnston Sara M. and Mark M. Judson Betty-Gail and Timothy A. Kalich Kenneth L. or Flora Nell Gordon Living Trust Deanna N. and Christopher E. Kieffer Maura W. and Alexander B. Langhart Jessica I. Lopez Elaine Macias Carina A. Marino Josephine and Wilton L. Marsalis David Mason Mark Mathias Ryan M. McFatridge Timothy Meyer Candace B. and Ricky D. Mize David Mowrery Nicholas R. Myers Michael Pawluk Carole Pedriana Hannah T. Pickett Kendrick V. Pittman R. Matthew Porchivina III Bill Powers Lisa Ridolfi Barbara Roach Julie A. Shelton John Siston Anne Smyth Ellen C. Spies Carole Spinak Jerome Stafford Warner Media Mitchell C. Weidner Lynn A. and Phil F. Wier Brian D. Wiuff Joyce Wiuff Lauren H. Zimmerman David Zinn

THE REVIEW UM SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA MAGAZINE SUMMER 2020 ISSUE 9

EDITOR Debora Wenger COPY EDITOR Sarah Griffith ART DIRECTION AND DESIGN Ellen Kellum CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Tate Dye, Cynthia Joyce, Michael Newsom, La Reeca Rucker

COVER ILLUSTRATION BY: Ellen Kellum

PHOTOGRAPHY/ILLUSTRATION

Michael Fagans, Thomas Granger, Timothy Ivy, Ellen Kellum, Stan O’Dell, Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services

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

Q&A PAGE 16 In separate interviews, two reporters speak candidly about the specific challenges women of color face in the news industry, covering protests during a pandemic and about how their experiences at the University of Mississippi’s School of Journalism & New Media (SoJNM) prepared them for their careers. BY CYNTHIA JOYCE

Learning in a Pandemic PAGE 23 The faculty of the School of Journalism and New Media talk about the innovations and new perspective involved with teaching during these times.

COVER STORY

Robin Street PAGE 30

BY MICHAEL NEWSOM

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ELLEN KELLUM

Senior Lecturer Robin Street has recently retired but the impact she made on her students won’t stop. Faculty and alumni alike describe her amazing work ethic and the legacy of her Public Relations students.

DEPARTMENTS

8 CURRENT EVENTS News and updates on the accomplishments of the students and faculty.

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A degree in Journalism can lead to many different career paths. Read how these three alumni have found themselves in the realm of filmmaking.

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INNOVATION Coping with new careers during a time of quarantine and COVID-19, our alumni describe how they are making it work.

BOOK REPORT Read all about the latest published works written by our faculty and alumni, including Samir Husni and James L. Dickerson.

Farley Hall is the home of the School of Journalism and New Media as well as the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics.

46 MICHAEL FAGANS

THE LAST WORD Faculty and friends remember former Journalism Department Chair Ronald T. Farrar.

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CURRENT EVENTS

NATIONAL HEARST CONTEST WINNERS

BOSE

BROWN

JOHNSON

BENGE

Four University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media students have been honored with an award in the national Hearst journalism contest. The students won 8th place in the category of Team Multimedia/News or Enterprise for a project about Puerto Rico’s recovery after Hurricane Maria. Website content included short and in-depth text articles, videos, photographs, graphics and timelines. The students on the team were journalism majors Devna Bose, Brittany Brown and Christian Johnson, and IMC major Hayden Benge, who designed the website. All four students had leadership positions at the Student Media Center in 2019. The Hearst competition is considered one of the most prestigious in college journalism. Bose, Brown and Benge graduated in May 2019. Bose is a reporter for the Charlotte Observer in North Carolina through the Report

for America fellowship program. Brown just finished the first year of her M.A. in the Southern Studies documentary program at UM. Benge is an account coordinator for Saxum, a marketing communications agency, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Johnson graduated in May 2020 and continues to work as a photographer intern for UM marketing and communications. The faculty leaders for the project were Patricia Thompson, assistant dean and assistant professor, and Iveta Imre, assistant professor. Recent journalism graduate Ariel Cobbert participated as photography mentor. Cobbert, from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, is now a photographer at the Commercial Appeal in Memphis. Jasmine Karlowski, a Study Abroad staff member and M.F.A. graduate student, helped with translations while working on a mini-documentary about the trip.

NEW FACULTY MEMBER Dr. Marquita Smith is the school’s new Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs. She is joining us from John Brown University (JBU) in Arkansas. Her focus will be on growing our graduate programs as she offers her insights on best practices in recruiting and retaining diverse students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr. Smith’s primary goal will be to build on some of the amazing work already underway in our graduate programs thanks to Robert Magee and Joe Atkins. Before joining JBU, Dr. Smith was the city editor for The Virginian-Pilot in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She joined The Pilot as the local government editor in 2001. During that time, she also taught part-time at Hampton University and Norfolk State University. In 2008, Dr. Smith took leave from The Pilot to complete a Knight International Journalism Fellowship in Liberia. During her year in West Africa, she created a judicial and justice reporting network to help journalists develop the skills needed to cover the post-war nation’s poverty reduction efforts. Ghanaians elected a new president in 2008, and Dr. Smith was instrumental in creating several training modules used by reporters and editors charged with covering the event. Beyond her teaching responsibilities in the communication department at JBU, Dr. Smith served as Chair for the Division of Communications and Fine Arts where she also oversaw JBU’s bi-weekly newspaper, The Threefold Advocate, and the institution’s yearbook, the Nesher. She chaired the university’s diversity committee and continues to work tirelessly to promote diversity efforts both locally and globally.

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MARQUITA SMITH

Exciting Opportunities With New Fall Curriculum NEW EMPHASES TO GIVE OUR STUDENTS THE MOST CURRENT INDUSTRY SKILLS

BEGINNING this fall, the school’s new journalism curriculum will better position students for future jobs. The biggest changes revolve around four new emphases: Video & TV Storytelling, Multimedia Journalism, Visual Journalism and Political and Social Justice Reporting. “We know our students have a high interest in video and photo, writing, design, social media and specialty journalism,” said Interim Dean Debora Wenger. “These new emphases give them the opportunity to go deep in an area that they love, while still getting the foundation in journalistic principles that they need.” Things change rapidly in the media world, and Wenger said the curriculum updates were necessary to remain modern. “We know that the audience is consuming more and more news and information on digital platforms and through video, social media and interactive design — now our curriculum more accurately reflects what we’re teaching.” NEW COURSES Wenger said new courses include J270: Digital Story Production, which will immerse students as sophomores into the tools and concepts they need to tell stories across media platforms. Another new course for freshmen is called Visual Principles — helping students understand what it takes to capture a great photo or visualize important information in a graphic. Digital Story Production gives students hands-on instruction about how to use digital media tools to produce interactive stories.

VIDEO SKILLS Iveta Imre, an assistant professor of journalism who teaches the course, said students will learn key concepts in audio, video, infographics, images, and other digital technologies. They will learn how to capture engaging audio, photos and video to create effective multimedia stories. “I think this course is important for the new curriculum because it gives an opportunity to all of our journalism majors, regardless of the emphasis, to learn the basics in multimedia storytelling,” Imre said. “Until now, we had a huge discrepancy between our broadcasting and print majors in terms of skills, and this class is designed to remedy that.” Imre said this is a new course entirely, and it is envisioned as a culmination of all the core classes all journalism students must take. “Once they complete this class, the idea is that they would be ready to take the classes within their emphasis, and further develop the skills they learned in the digital story production class,” she said. Professor Mark Dolan will be teaching Visual Media Principles. Students arrive in the course as novice designers. “More and more students are asked to design, whether for their class presentation, a professional web site, or their own business card. Not only do students come away with these core skills, they also take the next step in using design to do reporting.” STUDENTS REACT Oxford native Dalton Whitehead, 18, is an incoming freshman and Talbert Fellow. The Oxford High School graduate said he has been researching the new class additions.

“I absolutely want to develop even better camera skills than I already have and get some job experience in my field,” he said. “I would very much so like to gain more experience with interviewing. I’ve always been a camera man mostly, knowing all the ins and outs of them and all technology, and I am a good interviewer, but I still have a lot to improve on with interviewing.” St. Louis native Brittany Kohne, 18, will be a freshman at the University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media this fall. The Oakville High School graduate is also one of our prestigious Talbert Fellows and a future journalism student. Kohne said she was attracted to UM’s innovative journalism program, which school leaders recently updated after much research, planning and many indepth discussions about how to best serve students beyond 2020. “I loved how Ole Miss had a lot of job opportunities when students graduated, as well as their approach in media as a whole. The journalism department is very forward thinking, which is very important for news media.” WHAT NEXT? Assistant Dean Scott Fiene said the school plans to update the IMC, or integrated marketing communication, curriculum next. “The IMC program will be 10 years old in 2021, and while there have been continual tweaks and revisions to the curriculum since that time, the faculty is currently investigating larger changes that may be needed to keep up with the demands of the profession,” he said.

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CURRENT EVENTS

2019-2020 Student Awards

Shepard Smith Moves Ahead

TAYLOR MEDALS

Payten Coale, Caty Crawford, Ellie Greenberger, Elliott Klass, Daniel Payne

KAPPA TAU ALPHA GRADUATE SCHOLAR

Loidha Bautista - IMC Lucy Burnham - Journalism

GRADUATE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Loidha Bautista - IMC Sima Bhowmik - Journalism

LAMBDA SIGMA WINNER

Daniel Payne

EXCELLENCE IN INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

Samantha Henderson Andrew Newman

TIMOTHY IVY

Former Fox News anchor and UM Journalism School alum Shepard Smith has joined CNBC, and will host a new prime-time evening news program. Smith’s title at CNBC will be chief general news anchor and chief breaking general news anchor. At CNBC, Smith will host The News with Shepard Smith, set to debut in the 7 p.m. ET time slot at the end of September. “I am honored to continue to pursue the truth, both for CNBC’s loyal viewers and for those who have been following my reporting for decades in good times and in bad,” Smith said in a network news release.

IMC STUDENT WINS SECOND RUNNER-UP IN THE DAN COLLINS SCHOLARSHIP AWARD

EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM

Lauren Conley Savannah Day

THE OVERBY AWARD

Daniel Payne

KAPPA TAU ALPHA INDUCTEES

Journalism: Nigel Dent, Alexandra Barfield, Mathhew Hendley, Mason Scioneaux, Gavin Norton, Alexander Norris, McKenzie Richmond, Callahan Basil, Austin Parker, Sarah Mullen IMC: Payten Coale, Julia Peoples, Tyler White, Jackson Sepko, Olivia Schwab, Kailee Ayers, Virginia Monssor, Lauren Wilson, Reagan Stone, Avary Hewlett, Cathryn Crawford, Andrew Gardner, Nicholas Weaver, Meredith Sills, katherine Johnson, Anna Borgen, Hannah Rom, Hannah Williamson, Asia Harden

DEAN’S AWARD WINNERS

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Journalism: Halle Ames, Malia Carothers, Madison Scarpino, Will Stribling IMC: Alexandra Alonso, Tristen Bloxsom, Justin Bush, Catherine Campbell, Mica Johnson, Elliott Klass, Jessica Lanter, Avery Sadler, Caroline Swenson, Jazzie Tate, Leah Thompson, Hannah Williamson,

2020

The Dan Collins Scholarship Award, was established in 2017 in memory of businessman, Dan Collins, who passed away from cancer in 2005. This year’s second runner-up is Lily Sweet King, who is studying integrated marketing communications. King is the founder of The Longest Table, a community event she created, fund-raised, and hosted for over 120 peers from high schools in Leon County in Tallahassee, Florida. The goal of these events is to bring people of different socioeconomic and racial backgrounds together to share a meal and stories. King brought The Longest Table to the University of Mississippi, working with the school chancellor to host the university-wide event during the spring of 2019. The event was so successful, the chancellor said it would become an annual UM event.

New This Fall:

Fashion Promotion and Media Specialization HAVE YOU EVER DREAMED of working in the fashion industry or owning your own fashion business? You can get your start at the University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media with the new Fashion Promotion and Media Specialization by taking only three classes. The specialization was the idea of Assistant Professor Scott Fiene and Instructional Assistant Professor of Integrated Marketing Communications Mike Tonos. It requires a nine-hour set of courses that introduces students to the world of fashion merchandising and promotion. Classes cover topics such as trends, communications, budgeting, forecasting, buying and merchandising. “The specialization is the result of student demand and interest,” Tonos said. “We were looking for electives to make the IMC program more interesting and diverse.” In late 2017 and early 2018, Tonos and Fiene were discussing possible electives when Fiene mentioned several students had expressed interest in fashion courses related to the broad fields of journalism and new media. “We hope students become knowledgeable enough about the fashion industry that they can find a good job in the field or can start their own fashion-related enterprise,” Tonos said.

THINKING ABOUT AN ADVANCED DEGREE?

Among the job possibilities: buyers, department managers; store managers (boutiques); merchandisers for manufacturing companies; integrated marketing communication for a fashion company; fashion blogger; fashion writing and media. Fiene said the Fashion Promotion and Media Specialization was driven by demand from students who were asking if we offered any fashion courses. “It joins seven other specializations we already had, and is one more example of how we’re allowing students to customize their majors based on interest. We think this will be one of the more popular specializations in our school.” Interim Dean Debora Wenger, Ph.D., said the specialization is important to the school because of the growing interest in fashion industry careers. “Last year a group of about 50 of our students got together to produce our school’s first online fashion magazine,” she said. “They did it outside of the classroom experience on their own time because of their passion for fashion. “Now, that magazine is adding even more students to the project for the fall. When you have this much grassroots enthusiasm for a subject, you know you need to do more to help students learn as much as they can.”

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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CURRENT EVENTS

The Reward of Public Service BY LA REECA RUCKER Journalism and New Media student Matthew Hendley recently won two top awards in the college division of the Louisiana – Mississippi Associated Press Broadcasters and Media Editors competition. Hendley won first place in the TV Reporter category, and his television reporting work was named Best In Show. The two-state competition, which received more than 1,200 entries, is sponsored by the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University. The AP is a not-forprofit news cooperative representing thousands of U.S. media organizations. “I believe it was for my 2019 reporting reel, in which I covered the pro-Confederate marches, the Associated Student Body resolution to move the Confederate statue, and several feature stories, including one on Ole Miss’ male cheerleaders and another on student-firefighters at Ole Miss,” said Hendley, who was happy to be recognized for stories he was interested in telling. “The awards have been fantastic and very affirming,” he said. “But the last few years have taught me that the real reward in journalism is knowing that you’ve done a public service, that your work has made a positive impact and has instituted real change. “That’s why I’m pursuing a career in this field. I hope to be able to say that is what my work has accomplished at the end of my career. The stories are what matter, not the awards.” Hendley is now participating in the national investigative reporting project News 21. Each year, partner universities nominate top students to participate in the spring seminar and summer project that investigates a relevant topic. UM graduate Brittany Brown participated in News 21 in 2018 that explored the topic “Hate in America.” “This summer, our project is ‘Kids Imprisoned,’” Hendley said. “We’re investigating the ins and outs of the juvenile justice system, from the school-to-prison pipeline to the across-the-board disparities that minority youth face,” he said. “I’m diving into two main storylines this summer: one being an in-depth investigation into gang-affiliated youth and their involvement in the juvenile justice system, and the second is an investigation into what juvenile justice looks like for Native American youth. “It has really been a blessing because last fall I got to witness and be a part of such thorough research and storytelling at 60 Minutes. A few months later, I joined this project and started filling research binders and developing source contacts for News 21. I’m quite literally using every skill I learned both at 60 Minutes and at Ole Miss. It’s been a very fulfilling project so far.”

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MATTHEW HENDLEY Hendley said he’s part of an excellent News 21 team this year. “Most of our reporting is being done virtually from an Airbnb in Phoenix because of COVID-19,” he said. “But our editors are allowing us to use this opportunity to tell these stories in an unconventional way rather than letting the virus limit what we can do.” Interim Dean Debora Wenger, Ph.D., said nothing Hendley achieves surprises her. “He is one of those students who is always willing to work harder and grab more opportunities to grow as a journalist,” she said. “We look forward to the day when Matthew is an investigative reporter for a major national news outlet and comes back to campus to help the next crop of students on their way.” Right now, the UM senior plans to return to campus this fall. “I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t love having my face on TV and feeling that what I’m saying matters to people,” he said. “I think that comes from fighting for attention as the youngest child. Being on-air is very stimulating. Ideally, though, I’d like to take the anchor chair on a network newscast – after earning my stripes reporting in the field, of course.” Hendley said he would be remiss if he didn’t speak up on what’s happening in our country and on our campus, subjects he’s currently learning more about in the News 21 project. “To address underclassmen directly, we have a role to play in the battle for equality in law and society,” he said. “Students are enrolling in our j-school at a very critical point in our university’s history. You don’t want to graduate feeling as if you could have done more to fight for truth. Take advantage of the role we’ve been given as journalists – there’s no reason that we can’t make our campus a better place.”

Mosaic Scholarship Winner SAMANTHA HENDERSON, a student from the School of Journalism and New Media has been awarded the Mosaic Scholarship at the National Student Advertising Competition. Established in 2009, the Mosaic Scholarship Fund recognizes students from minority demographics and encourage them to pursue careers in Advertising. Henderson, an IMC major and a member of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, has been involved in numerous organizations across campus such as FASTrack, Journalism and New Media Ambassadors, the Columns Society, Global Ambassadors, the SMBHC minority club, and numerous honors societies.

ACCOLADES – JOURNALISM University of Mississippi journalism students won top awards at the annual college contest sponsored the Associated Press, for students attending universities in Mississippi and Louisiana. BEST OF SHOW AWARDS: Digital: The Daily Mississippian staff Television: Matthew Hendley (shared with a student from Southeastern Louisiana University) Radio: DeAndria Turner (shared with a student at Southeastern Louisiana University) FIRST-PLACE AWARDS: Newspaper General Excellence: The Daily Mississippian Radio General Excellence: Rebel Radio WUMS-FM Best Website: The Daily Mississippian Newspaper Breaking News: The Daily Mississippian (chancellor coverage)

NEW MEDIA LEADERSHIP CERTIFICATION INTRODUCED The UM School of Journalism and New Media is introducing a new Media Leadership Certification designed to give mid-career leaders a solid foundation for developing a successful leadership style. Hank Price, director of leadership and development at the school , has had a 30-year career as a television general manager, leading television stations for Hearst, CBS and Gannett. He will lead the Media Leadership Certification program. “Leadership theory, practical application and a framework of introspection will provide the opHANK PRICE portunity for individualized development of leadership skills,” Price said. “Skillsets will be enriched by a number of classes already taught in the IMC graduate program.” Price said the Media Leadership Certification is designed for midcareer professionals who aim to someday run media companies. Candidates will ideally have some level of management experience.

Spot News Photos: Billy Schuerman, The Daily Mississippian TV Reporter: Matthew Hendley Radio News Story: DeAndria Turner Radio Use of Sound: DeAndria Turner Radio Feature Story: Hayden Wigg SECOND-PLACE AWARDS: Newspaper Breaking News: The Daily Mississippian (coverage of protests/rallies/ basketball team kneeling) Radio Newscast: Rebel Radio Sports Enterprise: Joshua Clayton, The Daily Mississippian Sports Photo: Billy Schuerman, The Daily Mississippian TV News Story: Skye Spiehler, NewsWatch Ole Miss Multimedia Journalist: Devna Bose Multimedia Package: Daily Mississippian staff Radio News Story: Will Stribling Radio Best Use of Sound: Will Stribling

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CURRENT EVENTS

Cooper Manning Celebrates Our 2020 Seniors as Virtual Graduation Speaker COOPER MANNING is a UM School of Journalism and New Media graduate, who, in case you didn’t know, is also part of a famous football family. He delighted the digital crowd as the school’s virtual graduation speaker last May. Manning said he became a broadcast journalism major after taking a semester of accounting and realizing he didn’t love it. “I have always been kind of comfortable talking on camera or in front of people,’ he said. “You had semesters where you were behind the scenes and working the camera, and you got to learn a different perspective.” “While I enjoyed being on camera more, I did appreciate my days as a cameraman. I also liked that there were no set hours around journalism. You could go shoot something at night. There was always action. You weren’t tied to a schedule.” Manning said he’s always had two career paths – a sales job and a media job. “After college, I had a radio show,” he said. “A big radio guru had a heart attack and was out of commission. They said, ‘Have you ever hosted a radio show? … You’re hired.’ My fun was always being on the air in some fashion. For me, personally, I think if I had made it a fulltime career, it might not be as fun.”

ACCOLADES Dr. Kathleen Wickham, professor of journalism at the University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media, published The Magnifying Effect of Television News: Civil Rights Coverage and Eyes on the Prize in the recent edition of American Journalism. Dr. Wickham’s research on the article started when she held a research fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis. The key to the article was the discovery of audio tapes in the Washington University archives from the pre-production sessions where Executive Producer Henry Hampton invited civil rights activists, journalists and historians to put the events in time and place. The article was accompanied by an author interview.

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Manning is entering his fifth year as a host for “The Manning Hour” on FOX NFL Sunday Mornings, where his broadcast journalism degree comes in handy. However, in his real job, he is senior managing director of investor relations for AJ Capital Partners focusing on new business development and managing and curating investor relationships. There he has been instrumental in raising capital for Graduate Hotels. “I have a lot of respect for the guys in the journalism world,” he said. “The hours are different. Those are tough hours. Those guys grind and work.” He said he hopes graduates will ponder this thought: “I hope they can walk away thinking, ‘If this no-talent clown is doing OK for himself, then I’m going to kill it,” he said. “I was reluctant to accept the invitation just because I still wake up in the middle of the night and have that horrible pit in my stomach that I have a paper due and haven’t done it, and you can’t find the classroom, and you’re late for class.” “I have really enjoyed the last decade of my life without having papers and homework due, so I guess I wanted to torture myself the last couple of months about what I am going to put down on paper or what comes out of my mouth. I am equally nervous about this and my sociology exam at the end of my senior year, which didn’t turn out so well.” His advice to young professionals: “I am a big believer in doing what you like and doing what you are good at,” he said. “Don’t take a job that you don’t like that you’re not passionate about because it’s a good job. There are not that many people in the world who get to come home and enjoy what they have done, so if you can find that, I think you’ve got it figured out.”

Important Accomplishments for the 2019-2020 School Year

REGIONAL AWARD WINNERS School of Journalism and New Media students were named Grand Champions for their performance in onsite competition at the Southeast Regional Journalism Conference, held in Hattiesburg in February 2020. UM students won a total of seven awards in the onsite competition, including first-place awards for Kenneth Niemeyer (newswriting) and Madison Scarpino (TV anchoring); second-place awards for Griffin Neal (feature writing) and the public relations team of Sarah Biedermann, Karsyn King and Hannah Williamson; and third-place awards for Daniel Payne (design/page layout), Will Stribling (radio news reporting) and the TV reporting team of Matthew Hendley and Lydazja Turner.

Investigative Reporters & Editors Virtual Conference Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Investigative Reporters & Editors conference will be a virtual event rather than an in-person gathering. A student and an instructor from the University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media were awarded the opportunity to attend the virtual event in September. Tupelo native Abbey Edmonson is majoring in journalism with minors in English and creative writing with an emphasis in social media. She has been working as an intern and editorial assistant at Invitation Oxford and Invitation Magazine for over a year, and she aspires to work for a national publication. She was awarded the James Richard Bennett Scholarship, given to journalism students in Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma or Louisiana, that provides a one-year student IRE membership and a complimentary conference registration. If the conference had not been moved online, the scholarship would also cover some travel fees and up to three nights in a hotel. Journalism professor LaReeca Rucker will also be attending the conference. She was selected as one of the recipients of an Eric B. Sager Scholarship that came with a one-year IRE membership and paid conference registration.

DONATIONS AND SCHOLARSHIPS Thanks to a gift from the estate of the late W.C. “Dub” Shoemaker, students will continue to benefit from an in depth-reporting, capstone experience. In addition to his gift, new scholarships and other donations exceeded $550,000 this academic year. ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES PARTNERSHIP After nearly two years of developing a partnership with Ethiopian Airlines, the first cohort of airline employees began taking courses in the online IMC Master’s program in January. These employees are leaders in the airline’s global operation, and this new venture allows us to extend our program internationally. Twenty-five students began the 12-course sequence, and we hope to admit another cohort in January 2021. MAKING STRIDES Our school earned more than 75 student awards in national, regional and state journalism and communications contests. We supported diverse programming including the Lens Collective, the ACT magazine conference and the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association annual conference among other events. In addition,the School created a new graduate certificate in media leadership and graduate enrollment in the School overall is up approximately 90% for the coming year. WEBSITE CHANGES The School of Journalism and New Media’s website underwent revisions led by Graphic Designer Hannah Vines. Changes include additional pages for recruiting, a homepage re-design, and changes to website organization ( jnm.olemiss.edu)

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ILLUSTRATION BY ELLEN KELLUM

In separate interviews, these two reporters speak candidly about the specific challenges women of color face in the news industry, covering protests during a pandemic and about how their experiences at the University of Mississippi’s School of Journalism & New Media (SoJNM) prepared them for their careers. BY CYNTHIA JOYCE 16

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Jonece Starr Dunigan (SoJNM Class of 2014) is a reporter for AL.com and the creator of the Black Magic Project, now featured on ReckonSouth.com. She was a Taylor Medalist at the University of Mississippi.

Why did you originally decide to pursue journalism as a career? I’d wanted to be a journalist since high school because I wanted to write, and I wanted to write well. When I left Ole Miss in 2014, at the tail end of my senior year, there was a noose that was put on James Meredith’s neck. I think that’s when it really awakened within me that this was the path that I was supposed to be on – to help people realize that all the stuff

that’s going on right now has been happening for a very long time. You wrote recently for AL.com about the way kids are taught history in Alabama. What were some of the most surprising things you learned when reporting that story? First of all, that the education system is one complicated maze.

That story was part of a Freedom Ways Fellowship [by the organization Press On] that lasted nine months, so I didn’t do anything except research and report on that story for nine months. When I was doing that story, I was discovering the ways harm was caused not just to Black students, but to all students. The way one former teacher told me was, when you use a textbook and all it has are white men in it, you don’t have to tell these kids about the racial hierarchy of this world – you’re teaching it to them. You have a predominantly Black classroom, yet you’re already teaching them that they are inferior, below whiteness. And you are already teaching the white kids they are over the Black kids. And so, subtly, you are teaching your classroom racism. Another thing I found out is the history that wasn’t taught to me. One of the hardest parts of that story was not knowing my own history. I went to Huntsville City Schools, and I wasn’t taught that the first child to integrate Alabama public schools was in Huntsville. Why wasn’t that taught to me? Why was it not taught that during the space race, there was a whole social justice movement happening in Huntsville? I was learning all of this history about Huntsville that I did not know. I realized that most of our teacher workforce is predominantly white, and it’s been that way for a very long time, a disrespectfully long time, and they don’t know this history, and that’s why it was not being taught to us. Do you think things have changed much since you were in school? Do I see changes happening? Yes, I do. I have a lot of faith that the teachers have started doing the work today. Is there also work to be done? Definitely, because this is where people have to be willing to sit in their own discomfort in order to undo this harm that’s been happening. White people don’t realize that teaching can lead to that type of harm and you don’t even know it. What I hope to do with my stories is help people understand the times that we’re in, and put it in a different lens. You can’t make everyone understand. The last story I wrote about the Black schools in Montgomery being renamed? I got the most hate mail I’ve

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Q&A

ever gotten because of that story. More any story that I’ve ever done. Mostly because of the headline [“Confederate names don’t belong on Montgomery’s Black schools, social justice groups say”]. But I am here for the people who are willing to read beyond the headline, and for people who are willing to learn -- who may not understand but want to understand and know more, and want to build a better world. I am not here for arrogant people. It seems like since protesting began, there has been a shift – a willingness to listen, maybe? But it’s hard to tell if real change is actually taking root. Yeah, I don’t know … people have been claiming and screaming these names for years. Black mothers have been crying over their Black sons for years. It’s the same thing as being an Ole Miss student. Why did I have to harm myself to prove myself? Why do Black people have to harm themselves to prove that this is a problem? It’s kind of bittersweet for me because now the Black Magic Project [now part of Reckon South] is getting the attention it should have gotten years ago. Why did I have to harm myself years ago to get this attention? All I’m hoping and praying for, is that this is not a trend. Because my blackness will never be a trend.

I hope this is real. I hope this is actually real change that I’m looking at and seeing and documenting, because I talk to way too many Black parents, and I listen to them and have to hear them explain to their Black daughters why the world is this way, and they’re sick. I just don’t want to have those conversations, I don’t know if I have that in me. I feel bad because my mother had to have that conversation with me, and my dad had to have that conversation with me. When I got arrested [while covering a recent protest in Birmingham], a lot of people told me my parents should be proud. They were always proud. I wish I could play you the recording of the fear in their voice. I never want to have that conversation with my parents again. They weren’t disappointed. They sounded disappointed, but not at me. And I was like, Oh, because they know. They know. They were born in the ‘60s, so they don’t remember, but their parents remember and their brothers and sisters remember, and their daughter was just thrown into that. I never want to hear that fear in my mother’s voice again. I’m guessing it was terrifying, being arrested for doing your job. Well, as a Black reporter, yeah. We were the first that got arrested. The park is in front City Hall, and there’s two doors on each side of City hall,

“I am here for the people who are willing to read beyond the headline, and for people who are willing to learn — who may not understand but want to understand and know more, and want to build a better world. I am not here for arrogant people.” – Jonece Starr Dunigan

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so when the police force came out it was very intimidating. On one side of the door, there were police officers coming out in normal uniform, carrying huge batons that you see in the pictures in history books about Birmingham. And on the other side you see police in riot gear with the big shields. There had to be at least 50 of them, enough to make a perimeter around the park. I remember telling the guy that was with me, this is excessive for less than 20 protesters. There was a rumor that the KKK was going to come and counter-protest that the Confederate monument was going to be moved, and that’s what I had heard. And of course, no one came. So the protesters were just chilling, eating pizza, drinking water, singing songs. I noticed that on the balcony they were taking pictures of the protesters or recording them or something, and so of course, me doing my job, I walked across the street and asked them, “Why are you taking pictures?” And a woman said, because I was told to do so, and I was like “Why were you told to do this?” And she wouldn’t answer, so she went and got the [public information officer]. The PIO comes out. He doesn’t know me because we’ve never met, so I show him my badge. He says everyone has the right to record and take pictures, and I asked why and he wouldn’t tell me. So that’s what I tweeted. Then 45 minutes later, that’s when we got arrested. I was there trying to do my job, asking questions. Everyone there was within their First Amendment Rights -- we had the right as the press to be there and they had the right to protest. I hate to mix my personal feelings about it, because there is some privilege of being with the press. While we were arrested and put in jail for 10 minutes, they were in jail for 10 hours and didn’t get out until the next morning. It was very scary. I felt all the people whose names people say at the protest. I felt them in my body at the time. I felt Ahmaud Arbery, I felt Breonna Taylor, I felt George Floyd, I felt Mike Brown, I felt Trayvon Martin. It was like feeling them all at once. Very shocking and suffocating, knowing that you’re about to be the next name, that you’re going to be a hashtag now. And all of that came out all at once.

Jonece Starr Dunigan

And I wish… I just wish I was stronger, I guess? That it didn’t happen. That I didn’t have it in the back of my head, that this is a possibility. I’d never been arrested before, so it was a very confusing time. It was a lot of emotion in that one moment. I wish I didn’t cry. I wish I didn’t scream. I wish I just did what the CNN guy did – just tell the story, and just let it happen because you’re going to get out. Your company is going to get you out, you know. But the emotion of being Black overwhelmed my reporting duties. I don’t know whether to be ashamed or to just be like, “It’s okay, you’re human.” Do you feel like that experience has strengthened your sense of purpose as a reporter? I’ve always kind of known what the protesters were risking, because I knew a lot of them anyways. The ones who were leading the way, these are relationships that are built over time. These people I’m reporting on now, I knew two or three years ago -- so they know me, they know who I am. And the leaders, I’ve been following them. It didn’t change my mission at all, it just gave me a lens to see what they go through. What advice would you give to student journalists? 
 You really have to prioritize your mental health. This job will make you feel like you never left college. I told my best friend the other night, I love my job, but it makes me feel like I’m writing a final paper – the kind of papers that you got asked to write at the end of the year –it feels like that every week for me. For high achievers, you’ll procrastinate, but you’ll still do well. With someone who’s got high-functioning anxiety like myself, you feel like you have to overwork yourself in order to prove yourself. And that’s not the case. That’s not true. You’re allowed to rest and still be considered productive. Your productivity isn’t measured by how much of your soul and your body that you give to a career that at the end of the day could let you go at any moment. You are allowed to have children, and you’re allowed to go out and enjoy times with your best friends and your fiancé

and still be a good journalist. There is a way to do that, but the balance is something you have to build. 

 And it may be looked at as you’re being lazy. That has nothing to do with you. Especially for journalists of color, we feel like we have to work twice as hard to get half as far. I think that’s bull****. I worked for AL.com, the same paper in Birmingham that was known to be racist during the civil rights movement. Now I’m

here, and I have the opportunity to change the narrative. I have the ability to say, we’re chronicling history here, and I can actually document it right this time. We all have that responsibility, you know? People with a byline, we have that responsibility. People are being asked, “What side of history do you want to be on?” And your name is on it. What legacy do you want your name on? We need to decide that. And hopefully it’s the right one.

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Q&A

Lasherica Thornton (SoJNM Class of 2018) is the Education and Features Reporter for The Jackson Sun in Jackson, TN, part of the USA Today Network. She graduated from the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College.

Lasherica Thornton

You are the mother of two young kids who somehow managed to graduate early from college – and though you haven’t been out of school for long, in the almost two years since, already you’ve covered a pandemic, protests, school re-openings and more for the Jackson Sun. How’s it going? I love it. I think that’s the best way to describe it. I just love the field I chose. I love waking up every day, even though it is stressful — so loving it helps. I cover education and features. Education, as you know, has been filled with school reopenings [during COVID], so lately that’s where I spend a majority of my time. We don’t just cover Jackson – we cover the surrounding 13 rural counties, as well as those on the outskirts, and that includes more than 25 school districts.

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There’s just so much that goes into it that people don’t even realize. I remember when I lived in New Orleans 20 years ago, I would watch the school board meetings on public access TV because often it was more dramatic than even the best cable shows. I didn’t know it either when I took the job covering education. Someone once told me during my internship [with the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association], “The best beat is education.” And it just so happens that I wind up on this beat. And I think it is the best – it just entails so much. There’s so much that can be a part of the story – whether it’s the educators, the

superintendents, the teachers, the students, the parents…I get the best of all worlds. You’re having to translate a lot of policy for a general audience. When there’s so much minutiae that you have to explain in order for people to understand it, is it hard to balance the storytelling part? I didn’t realize how much I would have to depend on my own previous coverage. And I say that because before I took the job, they didn’t have an education reporter. So when I came in, I not only had to learn everything, but everything I learned and did, I had to rely on to even continue coverage, if that makes sense. As far as trying to translate policy in the storytelling, what I’ve continued to do is try to get everybody’s side. So, with the school board for example: If I see some parents there, I’m going to talk to them…if I see students, students who are actively participating, I’m going to talk to them. Teachers are afraid to talk, for the most part – that’s a barrier of the job. I just try to involve as many perspectives as possible, because depending on what position you have in the community, you’re not going to have the same perspective. What I’ve noticed is that there are always more than two sides to it – it’s not black and white. There are so many perspectives that you can tell a story from, and sometimes you just have to follow up. There are a lot of things I’ve covered where I haven’t been able to put it all in one story. I’ve had to come back and follow up, just to provide all of those angles. Someone once described journalism as being not just a product, but an ongoing process – I’ve always loved that, the idea that a story doesn’t necessarily end at deadline. What made you decide to pursue journalism as a career in the first place? It started for me back in eighth grade. I used to take those little personality tests to say what your career would be, and it always said I’d be an accountant because I like math. But a couple of my writing teachers apparently told the journalism teacher who was with the school newspaper that I could

write. They reached out to see if that was something I wanted to do, and that’s where it started. I’ve been writing for newspapers ever since. I think I only recently realized this, but the thing that stuck with me was I didn’t really always have a voice. And then I noticed that not everyone gets a voice. So I was able to provide a voice for everyone, and provide voices to people who traditionally hadn’t had that opportunity. And I just feel like, no matter who you are, you should have a voice. You should have a say. Even here in Jackson, I’ve been covering protests and rallies and such. And one of the board members actually wrote me and said, “The stories that we have been writing have been giving voices to people in the community who’ve never been given that chance before.” So just hearing that only makes me realize that I chose the correct profession in being able to give people that voice. Has there been a particular story that you’ve worked on that made you think, “This is why I wanted to do this?” I don’t think there’s one story. I think it’s everything. With every story I write, it’s just kind of a reminder. Were there specific courses or experiences in college that prepared you well for the work you’re doing now? Or things you wished you’d had more of? My education at Ole Miss was… what’s the word? If it was not for Ole Miss, I don’t think I would be the journalist I am because of the classes that I took. For example, the feedback – I’m the type that always asks for more feedback. I was able to say to my professors, “How could this have been better?” and “How could I have improved on this?” Even in the advanced reporting class, where we had to have that quick turnaround – even though I don’t do breaking news, breaking news still happens in every beat. For example, I’ve had to cover a lawsuit, a court case, in the morning, and they wanted it for the paper the next day. I had to have

it finished no later than 3pm. It was the same as advanced reporting class. If not for that class, I would have cracked under the pressure doing my first breaking news piece. At Ole Miss, it’s real-world – we were actually writing the stories, getting real experience in the classroom and learning from it. Of course, there’s nothing like having the experience you get from internships– but being in the classroom you also have to learn, and you learn from the people who’ve been in it. I owe Ole Miss so much for that. I think the only one I wish I would have taken more seriously was Professor [Alysia] Steele’s photojournalism class. I took it seriously, but I just wish I could take it again, now that I know what to do. I could perfect those skills. Even though we have a photographer [at Jackson Sun], we only have one photographer for everything. I know that it would be better if I was more comfortable doing photos. Students should take those classes as seriously as they can. Every lesson that I did learn, I’m using it. Students of color have had such varied experiences at Ole Miss, certainly not all of them as positive as yours. What advice would you have for current students who might not feel they’re getting the attention and support they need? Even though I didn’t experience what they experienced in college, it’s something I’ve experienced professionally. I know that

what they went through is real, and I have to acknowledge that. I also have to say, though, in every class that I took – and I don’t know if I would have done this if I didn’t have kids – but I actively went out and introduced myself on the first day and said, “This is what I have to do.” And I was always very upfront and transparent about the kids – explaining that if anything ever happens, this is why, I’m not slacking. And I also worked really hard. That my professors were open to that and not seeing that as an excuse – I know all of that probably came from the constructive criticism of former students and the experiences that they went through. Even though I didn’t have a difficult experience at the journalism school at Ole Miss, or at the University of Mississippi, in my profession – and again, I love it, I love my job and my coworkers –I’ve seen firsthand how as a Black woman, I am held to a higher standard of criticism than, say, my white male counterparts. I can say that from experience. I don’t make a lot of mistakes, because I can’t. We can’t as minorities. As Black women, we can’t make mistakes. The most recent example: The school system, their budget was being cut by $417,000 in comparison to the sheriff’s being cut by $5,000. I put in the headline the words “Sheriff’s only cut by…” And that was a mistake. A coworker had done this repeatedly in his coverage, using those same words. But when

“To me, it’s all about continuing to improve how I tell stories, and how I get the message out so that more people are impacted – so that more people see what’s going on, and more people get their story out.” – Lasherica Thornton

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CURRENT EVENTS

I did it, county commissioners were mad, even though the story was factual. The county commissioners were upset not just at the word…but because the story was true? Yeah, because it was factual. Like I said, I focus on facts, not opinions. Another example: Sometimes my coworker and I wind up covering the same thing where I cover school board and he covers county government, because the county is over funding for the school. And he did the first story and I did one of the follow-ups, maybe a month or so later. Anyway, I took the exact terminology about a board member being “censored” from his earlier story. It was apparently incorrect. Now, keep in mind, a month ago no one ever said anything about this story being incorrect. Low and behold, Lasherica Thornton – whose name is clearly that of a Black woman, even if you don’t see my face – I do the follow-up using the exact same terminology, and I get calls like, “You don’t know how to do your job, you should blah blah blah blah blah,” “They didn’t censor him, this is yadda yadda yadda.” Again, I can’t afford to make those mistakes. Any Black journalist entering the field or any Black woman entering the field, they will be held to what I consider to be a higher level of criticism. That’s just something for them to be ready for.

I guess for some people it could be hard to deal with, mentally. For me it’s not, because again I don’t want to be sloppy anyways. But I see how it could be hard for a lot of people, especially if their coworkers aren’t as genuine as I feel like my boss is. I would imagine that without the support and trust of your boss and coworkers, it could make you very self-conscious about your work. They really are great. When I had a wreck last year and my car was totaled, my coworkers were the ones taking my kids to school. It’s not that I think [my being held to a higher standard] is on purpose – I just think that it’s subtle. And a lot of it is because there will be a public outcry against again a Black woman doing something versus a white man doing the same thing. They’re mad at me for calling out stuff anyways. It’s been such an intense time, with protests taking place around the country even during the pandemic – how has that added to the pressure? I voluntarily took on the role of saying, “I’ll go cover these protests.” And the reason I have is because I’m the only Black person in the newsroom. I even talked to my boss about it, I was like “This is why I volunteered for it.” He understood and encouraged me, and said, you’re the only one who’s going to have that perspective.

The first two protests we had here, I had already gone out of town before we found out about them last-minute. My coworkers did a good job covering them, but there was little stuff – like, they used the word “death” of George Floyd, where I would have used the word “killing.” Because people are looking at what’s happening in other places – even though that’s not what’s happening here – they are very, very antagonizing of the media and of our choice to cover [protests]. Even though we always cover what’s happening, whatever it is, they’re asking, “Why are y’all there?” and “Why are you giving them attention?” I’ve been going live at all the protests. I went to one city – well, a town, about an hour from here that’s in our coverage area. They had counter-protesters, so of course I knew going in there was going to be some tension. I got my live interview prepared, and one of the counter-protesters got in their face. I accidentally put my camera on myself at that moment, you could see who I was. I was not chanting with them, but you had people lying in the comments, saying “the reporter was chanting.” I don’t know if it was because they saw my face, or if they were trying to spread that to discredit the paper. But you have people like that who will try to turn anything around. You started this conversation saying how much you love it, and in spite of so many challenges. How does that work? I don’t mean to sound negative.

“At Ole Miss, it’s real-world – we were actually writing the stories, getting real experience in the classroom and learning from it....and you learn from the people who’ve been in it. I owe Ole Miss so much for that.”

– Lasherica Thornton

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You don’t! You’re just explaining what it’s like. I guess I want to say, whatever beat or whatever type of journalism you enter, you’re going to have stress. You’re going to have struggles. To me, it’s all about continuing to improve how I tell stories, and how I get the message out so that more people are impacted – so that more people see what’s going on, and more people get their story out. But if you can find what you love, and by that, I mean the medium – I wouldn’t dare do podcasts, for example – if you can find the medium that you love, and an environment that you can thrive in and improve in, the stress will be irrelevant.

A New Perspective

ILLUSTRATION BY ELLEN KELLUM

The School of Journalism and New Media Adapts and Innovates During a Pandemic

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A NEW PERSPECTIVE

Apart Yet Together As journalists and IMC professors, we understand how to adapt to new situations pretty quickly, and that mindset has allowed us to move all of our in-person classes online using Blackboard and other multimedia tools in a short time. This has required teamwork and innovative thinking, and it has allowed us to stay together as an educational family even though we are temporarily separated. We’re together, though we’re apart. We’re still a family of students and educators. We will persevere. Life and school will go on even though we face temporary challenges.

RAPID CHANGES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DURING THE 2020 SPRING SEMESTER A look at how the response to the Emerging COVID-19 Crisis unfolded.

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Some of our professors are offering words of wisdom about coping with these new changes. Will Norton, Jr., Ph.D., said faculty and staff are here to help students any way they can, and they will be offering many interesting courses in the summer and fall, whether they are in person or online. “I am grateful for the hard work our faculty members have done to adapt to the current situation,” Norton said. “Faculty worked long hours to get lectures online and contacted students so that they could finish the semester. “I also am grateful for the many adjustments the students made so that they could complete

MARCH 8 Spring Break begins and students and faculty leave the campus.

MARCH 12 Study Abroad requests all students return to US immediately and all spring and summer Study Abroad programs are canceled.

ILLUSTRATION BY ELLEN KELLUM

THE FACULTY, STAFF AND STUDENTS AT THE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA CONTINUE THEIR MISSION OF EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION IN THE FACE OF UNPRECEDENTED CHALLENGES POSED BY THESE UNCERTAIN TIMES

MARCH 14 The Institutions of Higher Learning announced that all eight public universities would be extending spring break for an additional week and transitioning to teaching all classes online as a measure to prevent the spread of the virus.

MARCH 15 Students got an early start to cleaning out their dorms after the university asked them to leave campus amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

MARCH 17 SEC and Ole Miss Athletics announced all regular season conference and nonconference competitions are canceled for the remainder of the 2019-20 athletic year.

MAY 9 Commencement takes place online. Graduates were celebrated during a live, virtual celebration. Cooper Manning was the commencement speaker for the School of Journalism and New Media. THE REVIEW

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A NEW PERSPECTIVE

their coursework. This has been an eerie time, but our faculty and our students have been superb. “We are grateful for the amazing students we have as we navigate these uncharted waters. We are confident that our school will emerge from this stronger than ever.” Interim Dean Debora Wenger, Ph.D., said the school’s faculty and staff were determined to continue teaching students and were willing to make big changes to complete the semester. “In just a little more than a week, our faculty rolled up their proverbial shirtsleeves and pulled off what might seem to be the impossible — they put every one of our classes online,” she said. “In addition, we saw students, who had good reason to be stressed out, sending emails of support and offering good humor and kindness to each other in Zoom meetings and on social media. “Add to that the incredible response from our staff. They have kept this ship together so well that it doesn’t even look leaky, but day in and day out, they are plugging countless holes. Right now, we’re seeing the very best of what the School of Journalism and New Media is, and I could not be prouder to be a part of it.” Assistant Dean Scott Fiene said he is also proud of faculty, staff and students for the strength and character they have exhibited adapting to changes. “I am so pleased with how we’ve all come together – students, faculty, staff – to make the best of this,” Fiene said. “We are living through a terrible global tragedy, but I also think this could be our finest hour. I truly believe that. “Everywhere I go (and by that, I mean on Zoom, and brief trips to the grocery store to see if they have any TP and hand sanitizer, yet), I am seeing kindness, compassion, creativity, humor and a sense of community and purpose that has been long overdue in our world. We will get through this, and there’s one heck of a rainbow at the end. Stay focused, stay

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safe, and I look forward to all being back together on campus again very soon.” Professor Samir Husni, Ph.D., director of the Magazine Innovation Center, of-

Scott Fiene

Samir Husni

Robin Street

Kathleen Wickham

fered these words of wisdom. “In the midst of all the doom and gloom there is always hope… and this shall also pass,” he said. “Students, keep the faith, stay well, stay safe, and stay inside.” Senior Lecturer Robin Street, now retired, said she knows all of us are anxious and unsure right now. “I cannot imagine how stressful it is to be a student right now,” she said. “My own ‘survival kit’ has three components that help me get work done and cope with the anxiety: Set up a work area. “I already had a great home office set up. Of course, it is all about purple (her favorite color) and has a standing desk!” Exercise! “As a former health journalist, I know that exercise is proven to reduce anxiety. I just ordered some exercise equipment that I am using in my basement.” Love on your pet. “My favorite antianxiety treatment is my beloved dog, Brooklyn. If you are lucky enough to have a pet, spending time with him or her is a proven mental health booster.” Professor Kathleen Wickham, Ph.D. shared a quote from William Faulkner: “The problems man faces are usually bigger than he is, but amazingly enough, he copes with them — not as an individual but as a community.” “Keep in touch with us,” Wickham said. “Ole Miss is your community. Together we will cope with your issues.” Professor Cynthia Joyce said she won’t sugarcoat things. “The next few weeks/months are going to be very difficult, and in ways we don’t necessarily anticipate,” she said. “The priority will be for you to take care of yourself and to make sure you are properly ‘sheltering in place’ while still trying to stay productive if at all possible.”

She said some of her tried-and-true coping mechanisms include petting an animal and drinking a glass of water. “Check on someone you know who might be struggling,” she said. “Call your grandparents. Don’t forget that outdoors is still a safe place to be. Spend more time there rather than in front of the TV or your computer screen if you can . . . And here’s a little bit of good news to keep in mind in the midst of this crisis: This is likely to be the biggest story of your lives — and you all are storytellers. Make this moment count.” Professor Jason Cain, Ph.D., said in times of crisis, we all want a sense of control. “It can be difficult to embrace just how adrift in chaos our lives are at the moment, and feeling out of control is what causes so much anxiety,” he said. “We feel we have so little impact on these giant decisions by governments and institutions even though we’re so deeply affected by them.” However, Cain said, the truth is there are many things you can still control – not just coursework – but the joy we bring to others. “They may seem like small acts – all those times you made a brother or sister laugh, helped a parent relax, spent a few minutes on FaceTime with your grandparents, reached out to someone you know who needs to hear a kind voice, or just reminded someone that you love them – but they matter. “I’d argue they matter more than anything else in the world. While I’ve seen people angry over hoarding and so on, I’ve also seen a few people cry just from being completely overwhelmed by the many small kindnesses their communities have shared . . . “When it comes to bringing joy to the people in your life, you’re a king. That’s where your work lies,” he said. “All of you reading this are a king or queen in some area of your life. And no matter how big or small you think that role is, it’s important. That’s where you can find some control in this situation in which you’ve found yourself. Don’t worry about the places where you still feel like a pawn, find those places

Cynthia Joyce

Jason Cain

LaReeca Rucker

R.J. Morgan

where you are royalty. That’s where you are most needed, and that’s where you now have an opportunity to shine.” Professor LaReeca Rucker said the coronavirus was the topic of many current events discussions this semester before spring break. “It seems surreal that we are here and the world has changed so much since some of those class conversations,” she said. “But I think this presents a unique opportunity for all of our student journalists to be community servants through their work, even if they are doing it only via phone and social distancing. “If you were actually looking for a way to help your community during this time, one of the ways student journalists can do that is by doing good work. I believe the stories they write will ultimately mean more to them in the long run because they will know they were part of something bigger. It’s almost as if we have a responsibility to chronicle this situation and make sure the focus of our reporting is about helping our neighbors.” Rucker said it’s also important to remember to take care of yourself. “I know that a lot of people are feeling a little anxious,” she said. “One of the things that has a proven psychological benefit is being in nature. I would encourage you to continue practicing social distancing, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go out into the forest or spend time at a lake, especially if no one else is near you, and enjoy the beauty and the peacefulness of nature to clear your mind.” Professor R. J. Morgan said it may seem like you are alone, but we’re all going through this together. “It’s not easy, and it’s not normal, but it is necessary,” he said. “Listening to the recommendations of our world and local leaders can and is saving lives. We must keep doing our part. So, put on your most comfortable pair of jammies, remember to tip the delivery person who just dropped off lunch, and let’s get through this semester. We can do this.” This article was originally published during the Spring of 2020.

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A NEW PERSPECTIVE

Innovation, Sacrifice and Inspiration A LOOK AT THE ACCOMPLISHED AND ADAPTABLE ALUMNI AS THEY NEGOTIATE THESE CHALLENGING TIMES

GRACE WHITE - IMC A graduate of the Class of 2016, Grace White is an account executive for GMR Marketing in Charlotte, North Carolina. She interned as a student with Ole Miss Athletics, the now-defunct Mississippi River Kings, and the online platform SportTalk, and in the four years since leaving the School of Journalism and New Media, her professional career has navigated its way through the NFL, NBA, NHL, and now the MLB. A career within the sports industry was always the only option for White, but the opportunities themselves evolved exponentially since she took her first professional position as a ticket sales representative with the Washington Football Team. Her most recent experience with Monumental Sports & Entertainment was what finally lit a path back to brand management and experiential marketing. As sales marketing manager, White focused on streamlining the sales operations for the suites teams and ticket sales departments and helped facilitate new opportunities and promotions to boost revenue. White’s time with MSE also included historic playoff runs culminating in franchise firsts like the Capitals’ Stanley Cup Championship, and the Mystics’ WBNA Championship. After achieving a personal dream of participating in the Caps’ first cup celebrations, it was time to find a new, more creative challenge. Finding a company that primarily focused around experiential marketing was a top priority, which narrowed the search greatly. She said GMR Marketing was, and is, a true leader in that space—their mantra being “creating memories that matter for over 40 years.”

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White started her new role the same day all GMR offices, and many other companies around the nation, went fully remote due to COVID-19. A completely remote onboarding and transition is unconventional to say the least, but it’s been a master class in working from home.

White started her new role on March 16, the same day all GMR offices, and many other companies around the nation, went fully remote due to COVID-19. A completely remote onboarding and transition is unconventional to say the least, but it’s been a master class in working from home.

In this new role as an account executive, White is working to manage the sponsorship between Humana and its three MLB partners. The professional sports world stands to look very different post-pandemic, but as many can attest in this industry, “there’s never a dull moment!

JULES MARCANTONIO - BROADCAST JOURNALISM

During her time in the broadcast journalism program at the University of Mississippi, Jules Marcantonio was heavily involved in the student-run daily newscast, NewsWatch Ole Miss. She is now a producer for WSMV News 4 in Nashville, working from home. Of all the newsroom jobs, producing newscasts would seem to be one of the toughest to do from a kitchen table, but WSMV News 4 producer Jules Marcantonio is doing just that. To gear up, Marcantonio said the station gave her a WiFi hot spot and a computer that is typically used by a photojournalist to submit content from the field. It included iNews and a remote access client, which allowed her to work directly on the newscast rundown and gave her access to all the station’s video and information sources. “I’m the first one. My news director said, ‘You’re the guinea pig,’ but they’re planning on sending another producer home tomorrow and starting another next week,” said Marcantonio after her first day of remote producing back in March. According to Marcantonio, the Meredith-owned station is trying to reduce the number of people in the newsroom every day, basically “trying to get as many bodies out of there as they can.” After just one day, Marcantonio said she’s had to change a number of things about her routine. Communication is the biggest challenge. “There’s no more hearing the assignment editor shout out the updates. Now, I have to constantly keep up with email.” More time-consuming. “I got up a little earlier today; I just knew I’d need more time.” Marcantonio said she was slowed down a bit, too, by having just one computer to work on vs. the two screens she has in the newsroom. “Right now, my roommate is still going into work, but it’s gonna get tricky when she’s there full-time.” She said the station’s reporters and photojournalists have discovered this as they do much of their work from home, too. “I hope it’s temporary. Going to work, as stressful as it is, your questions are answered in two seconds — this way everything just takes longer. You can definitely do it with the

“There’s no more hearing the assignment editor shout out the updates. Now, I have to constantly keep up with email.”

Jules Marcantoniio in the WSMV News 4 studio. Now she works from home producing newscasts.

right equipment, but to really do this job well, you need to be there, in the newsroom.” Marcantonio handles everything except overseeing the show in the control room. Before air, she discusses the plan for the newscast with the station’s executive producer, who makes the calls in the booth. The changes in responsibilities are affecting everyone, she said, especially because they’ve added three newscasts to each day. “First, we were on the air for 14 hours with tornado coverage, then the coronavirus outbreak got worse. This job is stressful at all times, but you’re either in or you’re not in TV news.” She said even if she could get time off right now, she’s not sure she would take it. She lives less than a mile from the station and said she wants to be able to get there quickly if needed. So, what’s her biggest concern now about producing newscasts from home? “I’m not sure I can do this for months. I’m a little worried I might go insane,” she said with a laugh.

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KELLIE NORTON - JOURNALISM AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

Actually, She Can JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SCHOOL ALUMNA FINDS HER DREAM JOB WITH SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS BY MICHAEL NEWSOM

YOU’VE PROBABLY HEARD THAT THE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM TIKTOK has exploded in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. With more than 2 billion users, it received the most downloads for an app over a three-month period earlier this year. What you may not know is that a University of Mississippi alumna is part of the global communications team that is playing a major role in TikTok’s continued success. Kellie Norton, a 2012 graduate with a degree in journalism and emphasis in public relations, is a communications manager at TikTok. Working for the tech firm is fun for many reasons, the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native said. For one, the app is so new, but so hot at the same time, that the conversations she has with people around what exactly the app is can be entertaining. “When people hear that I work at TikTok, it’s usually met with lots of excitement,” Norton said. “But, also intrigue from people who still have yet to download the app and get involved on the platform.” “I think most of my friends and family think I just play on the app all day as my job, and while that’s not 100% accurate, I do like to set out times during the day to check the app and get inspired by all the creativity and diversity we have on the platform,” Norton said. “It’s a nice little ‘sunshine’ moment of my day.” She’s not alone in wanting a little more sunshine in her day, it seems. TikTok has grown substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when people are stuck at home more in an effort to prevent the spread of the virus. It has benefitted from a public hunger for new ways to connect with the world about music, food, shopping, dance and myriad other interests over social media. It has grown in the last few months, with major celebrities and many organizations jumping into TikTok. The app has been downloaded more than 2 billion times, according to the Sensor Tower Store Intelligence estimates released

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in late April. This major milestone, when viewed through the lens of its data, is also a testament of just how fast it has grown. Just five months before it hit 2 billion downloads, TikTok hit 1.5 billion, and in the first quarter of 2020, the 315 million installs it registered are the most for any app ever in one quarter, Sensor Tower Store Intelligence reports. Norton’s time there hasn’t been typical, yet. Since she was hired, she’s worked from her parent’s home in Gulfport, which is not what she would have expected. She was spending COVID-19 quarantine there when she got the job and hasn’t actually gotten to meet many of her colleagues. Once normalcy returns, she will be working at TikTok’s headquarters in New York, the city that has been home for Norton since she graduated from Ole Miss. Before joining TikTok, Norton started her career working for various PR agencies in New York. From working red carpet galas and nightclub openings to

collaborating with clients to launch female empowerment campaigns, agencies were a key to breaking into the public relations industry, she said. “When you work at a PR agency, you have this unique opportunity to gain skill sets from across different industry verticals,” Norton said. “One minute, you’re planning the launch of a fashion client’s fall collection; the next, you’re producing an event on the top of the Freedom Tower. “I will always recommend new graduates to look into starting off at an agency setting. The amount of doors that open from that type of experience is incredible.” Throughout her career, Norton said she always had a goal of working for a company that not only breeds a positive and supportive culture, but one that is focused on a diverse and inclusive workforce. “I find myself so inspired every day by the people I work with at TikTok – all of their diverse backgrounds and skill sets,” Norton said. “I truly feel humbled and honored to be part of the TikTok team. “I like to think my big-sky-dreaming, 13-year-old self would be really proud of where I am today.” At Ole Miss, Norton was a student in Samir Husni’s publishing class, and the professor hosted the Act2 Experience and

invited esteemed publishers, publicists and journalists from around the world. The series is not only for networking, but also for students to learn more about the state of the industry and the types of interesting jobs available post-graduation, she said. “It was because of the Act2 Experience that I was able to network with one of the PR panelists and land my first PR internship in New York post-graduation,” Norton said. “The way professors would take the extra step outside of lectures and syllabi to be a valuable resource to students by hosting networking events or being a mentor outside of the classroom – it’s that type of dedication to their students that helped push me into a successful career in PR after Ole Miss, and it’s something I will forever be grateful for. “ She credits Husni and Robin Street, a longtime senior lecturer in journalism who retired earlier this year, as being teachers, mentors and friends who have helped her along the way. Street remembers meeting Norton, who was taking her feature writing class at the time, and recruiting her to public relations classes. She’s kept up with her former student since. Street – ever the cheerleader for all public relations professionals to focus on becoming the best writers they can be, no matter the career path they want to take – isn’t at all surprised Norton is playing such a major role in the success of TikTok. “Her success completely fits what I would have guessed for her,” Street said. “Her mixture of outstanding writing talent and excellent organizational skills, combined with her abilities to think creatively and deal with people effectively, provide the perfect combination for a PR professional.” Street says she took some lessons from Norton. “Another factor in her favor is her motto that she said in a presentation she sent me to show my class, ‘Persistence beats resistance,’” Street said. “I have taught all

Since she was hired, she’s worked from her parent’s home in Gulfport, which is not what she would have expected. She was spending COVID-19 quarantine there when she got the job and hasn’t actually gotten to meet many of her colleagues. my future students that motto from her!” The presentation, which the instructor kept, is a great example of the kind of dedicated student and professional Norton is, Street said. “I contacted several former students now working as PR pros, asking them to send me a photo of them at work and a list of what their typical duties were,” she said. “I used the photos and list of duties in my intro to PR class to give students a look at where they might be in a few years. “Everyone graciously replied, but Kellie, of course, went above and beyond. She prepared an entire PowerPoint presentation and sent it to me. It was full of interesting photos and information.” Husni, professor of journalism, Hederman Lecturer and director of the Magazine Innovation Center, remembers Norton as a student who stood out in her

time at the School of Journalism and New Media. “Her two biggest traits were her inquisitiveness and passion,” Husni said. “Those two traits together is what set her apart from a lot of other students. She’s also one of the few students I remember whose smile never left her face.” “When you have students like Kellie who do well in life, it is a delight to a professor’s heart, and to our profession as well. She’s earned it.” There’s a lesson in her story for burgeoning professionals and students still mastering coursework toward their degrees. “Stay focused and if it is in you, you will find success,” Husni said. “Inquisitiveness and passion will take you many places, and you should use your professors to facilitate that journey.”

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PUBLIC RELATIONS

A Purple Passion for Public Relations ROBIN STREET CELEBRATED TEACHER, PURPLE-CLAD ADVOCATE FOR DIVERSITY AND ACCEPTANCE, RETIRES FROM UM

BY MICHAEL NEWSOM

Robin Street’s office in Farley Hall is lined with business cards from her former public relations students and a wall full of photos with them. The mementos are powerful reminders of the lives she has touched over nearly three decades at the University of Mississippi. Street, a senior lecturer in journalism, retired in May. After being hired in 1990 to teach news reporting and direct the high school press association, Street later asked Samir Husni, thenchair of the department, if he would allow her to take over the PR classes from a retiring colleague. She’s mentored thousands of students over the years, and many of them owe their success to her. The Oxford native, who is often clad in her favorite color, purple, said she hopes she’ll be remembered most for helping them grow. “I get emails and texts from them all the time that say, ‘Oh, Ms. Street, I thought about you today because my employer wanted me to do something and I pulled out my notes from your class and I knew exactly how to do it’,” Street said.

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“Nothing makes my day more than getting those messages.” But, the always smiling, upbeat teacher didn’t start out as a confident molder of minds. She first wanted a master’s degree in public relations, but at the time, UM offered only a master’s in journalism. She was less than thrilled, but pursued it anyway. “That scared me to death because at that time, I was so shy and the idea of interviewing people terrified me,” Street said. “Kicking and screaming, I got a master’s in journalism and just fell in love with it, especially the ability to interview people and gather information and turn it into a concise, hopefully interesting, article.” That shy nature also manifested itself the first time she taught at Ole Miss.

“I can clearly remember how very nervous I was,” Street said. “Once I got over the initial fear, I began to see the lightbulb come on over a student’s head. That has been so rewarding to me: to be able to teach a student something and have it make sense for them.” She has had a stellar career, evidenced by her many professional accomplishments. The Public Relations Association of Mississippi, known as PRAM, named her Educator of the Year in 2009 and Professional of the year in 2014 and she was chosen as the overall winner from among all the states that belong to the Southern Public Relations Association. In the history of both organizations, only one other person has been named both Educator of the Year and Professional of the Year. All told, she has more than 30 other professional awards. Also, more than 150 of her students have won awards in the student PRism competition. Every student “Best in Show” award given by PRAM has gone to one of her students. Street also leads with a conviction to support acceptance and inclusion whether

THOMAS GRANGER

Pictured above, Senior Lecturer Robin Street greeting students at her office in Farley. Left: Public Relations legend Harold Burson was warmly received at the School of Journalism and New Media in the Fall of 2019 by Steet and former Chancellor Robert Khayat.

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PUBLIC RELATIONS

“She has ceaselessly believed in me and pushed me to aim high. Without Ms. Street, I would have never thought to work in public relations, and I owe all my future success to her.” — Jessica Shipp Senior IMC major based on race, sexual orientation or mental health. She also turned this belief into an anti-stereotyping campaign, which won a Silver Anvil from the PRSA in 2018. The award is the “Oscar” of the public relations world. She also won a Silver Anvil Award of Excellence in 2012 for a campaign she and her students created to celebrate diversity. Street, who holds an APR accreditation, also co-founded the Oxford-Ole Miss chapter of PRAM in 2003 and has served that chapter in every officer position. Some may not know she is also a prolific freelance journalist specializing in fitness, preventive health, nutrition and mental health topics. Her work has appeared in Woman’s Day, Better Homes and Gardens, Good Housekeeping, Cook-

Street with her 2018 public relations students after they swept the awards in the Public Relations Association of Mississippi (PRAM) student competition, with one student winning overall Best in Show. (front row, kneeling) Kat Balmes, Addie Guida and Kendrick Pittman. Second row: Bianca Abney, Alexa Hart, Robin Street, Parker Maloney, Alex Hicks and Kaitlin Childress. Back row: Zack McEwen, Clifton Carroll, Kayla Beatty and Kelly Zeidner.

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ing Light, Writer’s Digest and Golf for Women, among others. To help her better understand health information, she earned a master’s degree in wellness from the university in 1997, after taking classes part-time for several years while continuing to teach. She stresses to her students the importance of good writing, even in an age where social media is creating new niches for PR professionals. “Writing is everything,” Street said. “If you cannot write clearly and concisely, you do not belong in the profession of public relations. Many of my students learn that from me the hard way.” She also preaches the gospel of honesty to her pupils. “A true public relations professional

will always urge her employer to tell the truth,” Street said. “Your employer is going to decide, but it’s just so much easier to tell the truth and be done with it instead of working forever to hide something that is always going to come out anyway.” Students respect her lessons and value their relationship with her. In fact, during the interview for this story, a group of students texted her a selfie as they prepared for a competition in Hattiesburg. Scott Fiene, assistant dean for curriculum and assessment and associate professor of integrated marketing communications, said he’s happy for his colleague who has earned the opportunity to retire. Street’s contributions to IMC, and to PR teaching on campus have been many, and she will be missed, Fiene said. The department will hire someone to continue her work, and she will likely return to teach some classes part-time in the spring of 2021. It’s her strong bond with students that makes her a great teacher, he said. “She cares about them not just as students, but as people,” Fiene said. “She

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IMC graduate Aleka Battista (left) with Street in 2019 looking over their and the other graduates’ awards from the Southern Public Relations Federation Lantern competition. Battista won an Excellence Award and Street won a Merit Award. The students entered PR campaigns they created in Street’s Advanced PR Techniques class.

has helped launched a lot of PR careers and she gets to know students on a personal level, and they see her as a mentor, not just for the profession, but in general. “Her classes have always been engaging and enjoyable for students. Her reputation has grown in our school for those reasons.” Will Norton, former dean of the School of Journalism and New Media, worked with Street when she first arrived at Ole Miss. He was department chair and returned to campus as dean in 2009. She calls him a mentor. Norton’s mentee always had a laser focus on making sure her students learned the most important lessons, he said. “I generally have found through the years that those faculty who focus on their students are the teachers who truly change student lives,” Norton said. “For decades, Robin has done the many little things that result in high student development.

“What a joy she has been to work with since I came back to this campus.” It won’t be hard to find students to say nice things about her. Jessica Shipp, a senior integrated marketing communications (IMC) major from Southaven, said Street is the reason she decided to specialize in PR. “I consider myself lucky to have her as not only a teacher, but also a mentor,” Shipp said. “She has ceaselessly believed in me and pushed me to aim high. Without Ms. Street, I would have never thought to work in public relations, and I owe all my future success to her.” Jaimie Brooding, a senior IMC major from Walnut Creek, California, said she admires Street as someone who leads with dignity, grace and compassion. She also has instilled in her students the values of positivity and a “never quit” attitude. “She has affected so many lives, whether it be in their professional career or from

their relationship with her personally,” Brooding said. “She is a teacher you can never forget and you will always hear her voice in your head whenever anything PR-related comes up.” Kassidy Biss, a senior integrated marketing communications major from Ocean Springs, said she’s learned from Street how to be both an effective listener and communicator. She believes those skills will be valuable both inside and outside the workplace. “Communication is the foundation of our daily lives,” Biss said. “We need to be able to communicate our needs, wants and emotions as well as empathize. “Robin Street is the leading expert on how to form yourself into a compassionate communicator. I am honored to have been in her classroom while studying here.” Hannah Williamson, a senior integrated marketing communications major from Maumelle, Arkansas, lost a family member the day before she was to have campaign ideas in Street’s class. She was devastated, but Street showed her a rare level of kindness as she completed a campaign on the reality of grief for college students, which was inspired by her own situation. “It was by no means easy for me, but Ms. Street helped me every step of the way,” Williamson said. “Her door was always open if I had questions about parts of the campaign, and she checked in on me fairly often, as she knew I was going through the grief process while constantly researching it for my campaign.” She’s always been touched by the example of empathy and understanding Street showed her, while at the same time making sure she learned all of the lessons she needed. “It’s been said plenty of times before, but the University of Mississippi has been beyond blessed to have Ms. Street for the last 30 years,” Williamson said. “I can’t imagine my time at Ole Miss without her. I can’t wait to make it in the PR world and send her my business card.”

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MIXED MEDIA

Camera Ready Andrea Bucilla • Rob Pittard • Quinton Smith CARRYING A JOURNALISM DEGREE INTO THE FILM INDUSTRY

BY TATE DYE PHOTOS COURTESY OF BUCILLA, PITTARD AND SMITH

A JOURNALISM DEGREE is both valuable and extremely versatile. News anchors, magazine editors, educators, and a seemingly endless collection of careers have emerged out of the School of Journalism and New Media. A number of journalism alumni have even landed jobs in the world of movie production and independent filmmaking. Each filmmaker’s journey is different, from landing first jobs after graduation to making connections and creating new stories. Throughout the challenges and memorable achievements in a film industry career, a degree in journalism has proven to be a helpful advantage to those working in movie production. QUINTON SMITH began making movies with his family’s VHS camera at the age of four and creating short sketch comedies with his middle school friends. Smith knew that he wanted to turn his passion into a career upon coming to Ole Miss, where he graduated in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in cinema. He now lives in Anchorage, Alaska, as the owner of Landsick Media, LLC and a freelance filmmaker. Smith’s education was much more than his experiences within the classroom. He recounts the number of hours spent working up the courage to interview strangers outside of the Union for soundbites. “My journalism degree was so useful because it got me out of my shell,” says Smith.

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The post-college job hunt is not always a smooth ride. Even though Smith knew he wanted to work in the film industry, he could not find a job anywhere. Eventually, a prior connection helped him land his first job in Alaska. The production company was impressed with the demo reel that Smith had created as a part of a 500-level Ole Miss journalism course. He worked here for two years before he began freelancing. “That was one of the most terrifying experiences in my life,” says Smith. “I hadn’t planned on ever working freelance and didn’t know the first thing about how to start a business.” Through hard work and determination, contracts fell into place and Smith continued to make connections that would lead his production company into a safe and successful position. ANDREA BUCCILLA was a middle school English teacher in Brooklyn when she uncovered her fervent interest in film production. Graduating in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and new media, Buccilla decided to remain at Ole Miss, where she earned her master’s in curriculum and instruction in 2012. After seven years of teaching, she knew that her heart was leading her down a different path. She found herself spending time on indie film sets and learning more about production, going back and forth with the idea that she could be capable of succeeding in the film industry.

“I realized that, contrary to what I’d been feeling, I was qualified to work in this industry,” says Buccilla. “Some of today’s best filmmakers- writers, directors, producers- didn’t go to film school. All I needed in order to be qualified was a natural inclination for storytelling and a humble willingness to learn.” If you want to succeed in the film industry, be prepared to step out of your comfort zone and set yourself apart. Buccilla took a leap, leaving behind her employer of seven years because she knew her passions were leading her behind the scenes of video production. She now co-owns an indie production company, Greater Fool Productions, with her husband. This leap of faith also led her to a full-time position as a creative producer for Madwell, an ad agency in Brooklyn. To set herself apart from the competition, Buccilla wrote a screenplay as a cover letter when applying for this position. Relying on creativity and innovation is a key component of a journalism degree that can create so many different career opportunities. “There are new challenges every day in the film industry,” says ROB PITTARD. A journalism degree provides a versatile skillset and an extensive perspective within a production career. “I’m not a cameraman, but I know how to work the camera. I’m not in props, but I understand what the props department does on a daily basis,” says Pittard. “Broadcast journalism is not the same as a film degree, but it helps you understand how all of the parts work together as a whole.” Pittard graduated in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism and a minor in political science with a specialization in public relations. During his time at Ole Miss, Pittard focused on making connections and building his résumé. Upon graduation, Pittard worked on set at Olympus Has Fallen in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana, before landing a public relations internship for the San Francisco 49ers. Throughout the early stages of his career, Pittard was able to forge new connections, ultimately leading him to his current role as a key assistant location manager in Atlanta, Georgia, where he has worked for a number of production companies including Sony and Paramount. With a number of successful and well-known productions in his portfolio, Pittard is thankful for the hands-on experience he gained through his journalism degree. His broadcast journalism courses brought him into the studio, where he was able to pick up

Quinton Smith (above and opposite page) on location in Alaska working as a freelance filmmaker. (Left) Rob Pittard enjoys his role as a key assistant location manager in Atlanta.

(Right) Andrea Buccilla is co-owner of a production company with her husband and is also a creative producer for an ad agency in Brooklyn, NY.

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skills that he would carry with him throughout his career and onto the big screen. “It is a very surreal feeling to see your own name on movie credits,” says Pittard. Having a journalism degree in your back pocket may supply unique outlets of creativity that only you can bring to the table. “You don’t have to go to film school to be a filmmaker,” says Buccilla. “Be a production assistant, shadow people, offer to read scripts, participate in table reads…just put yourself out there.” Willingness to connect with others and hard work can carry hopeful filmmakers further into a successful and enjoyable career. For these three alumni, their journalism degrees helped lay the groundwork for their budding, enjoyable careers in the film industry. “You learn a little about a lot because every day is a different assignment,” says Smith. “I’ve got the University of Mississippi to thank for preparing me for that.”

“Broadcast journalism is not the same as a film degree, but it helps you understand how all of the parts work together as a whole.” —Bob Pittard

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“You learn a little about a lot because every day is a different assignment. I’ve got the University of Mississippi to thank for preparing me for that.” —Quinton Smith

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THE REVIEW

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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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CONNECTIVITY in the

Time of Covid CONVERSATIONS WITH MAGAZINE MEDIA LEADERS AS THEY ADAPT TO A CHANGING WORLD BY SAMIR HUSNI In March 2020, the COVID-19 virus was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Since then, most of the world has been experiencing the uncertainty and devastation the Corona virus has caused. We here in the United States are no different from the rest of the globe. From mandated stay-at-home orders to social distancing and the wearing of masks, the world as we knew it is no longer and the new “normal” is prevalent. Industries and companies have also had to learn a new way of doing things, magazine and magazine media publishers included. This book, Publishing During A Pandemic, is a compilation of conversations that I have had with many of the leading powers-that-be in the world of magazines, magazine media, printing, design, digital, and other business executives that have had this pandemic thrust upon them without warning or consideration. And for the most part, I am happy to say, I found out straight from the horse’s mouth (so to speak) that they are doing just fine. A little worse for the wear in some areas maybe, but doing very well in other sections of their businesses. Having to incorporate the new verbiage of the day: social distancing, quarantine, mask-wearing, into their daily lives now, I must say magazine and magazine media people are a sturdy lot and do not give up easily, as many of us already knew. You know, social distancing or isolated connectivity, as I coined the phrase many years back, are two names for the same situation. When I came up with the phrase “isolated connectivity” it was after a friend of mine told me the following story: “One day I came home from work to find my son watching something on his laptop and texting at the same time. I asked him, ‘What are you doing?’ My son answered, ‘Duh, can’t you see, I am watching a movie.’ I responded, ‘But you are also texting.’ His response: ‘Duh, I am texting with my girlfriend who is watching the same movie at home.’ That made me think, so I asked, ‘Why don’t you just take your girlfriend to the movies and watch together, like the good old days?’

My son replied, ‘Duh again, Dad, we can’t discuss the movie at the theater.’” “Isolated connectivity” was the first thing that came to mind when I heard that story. Today, we feel we are so connected, yet we are more isolated than ever before, especially with the pandemic. That conversation with my friend took place years before COVID-19 has forced the much of the world to go into “isolated connectivity” under the new phrase “social distancing.” The major difference is that “isolated connectivity” was a choice adopted by millions who enjoyed what they felt to be the privacy of their home and the virtual connectivity that kept folks screens apart. Today, “social distancing” is not a choice. It is a must and a force to be reckoned with. Whether you want to call it “isolated connectivity” or “social distancing,” I believe this seclusion goes against our nature as human beings. We are physical creatures, and we thrive on three “ships” that cruise all the channels of our physical nature. I have written and preached in my seminars about those three “ships” time and time again: ownership, membership and showmanship. And these ships are vital to our natures. We want to own it, belong to it, and then show it off. Here’s the sum of what I am trying to say: As long as we have human beings we are going to have physical things, and as long as we have physical things, we are going to have magazines. Magazines, unlike their business models, are not going to go by the wayside; it is how we manufacture and sell them to the public that is going to change. To quote a magazine executive I recently interviewed, “Customers will continue to vote with their pockets.” And not even a pandemic can completely stop the process. Today, in these uncertain times, magazines are more relevant than ever, as you will learn from the people who create them. By reading this book, you will ascertain the determination, sheer will, and passion that the people between the covers of this book have for their brands.

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BOOK REPORT

A Catalyst for Change

I

JAMES L. DICKERSON THIS UM ALUMNUS AND MISSISSIPPI NATIVE IS THE AUTHOR OF MORE THAN 30 BOOKS, AND HAS WORKED AS A MAGAZINE EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, NEWSPAER EDITOR, REPORTER, COLUMNIST, BOOK CRITIC AND SOCIAL WORKER. BY LAREECA RUCKER

In 1948, James L. Dickerson’s mother was a bank teller in Greenville, Miss., who hired Salle Mae Elle, an 18-year-old Black woman with a young son, to be his babysitter. Dickerson, a toddler who spat at other babysitters and threw tantrums, approved of the hire. But, some members of the community disapproved of their interactions. One day, an angry woman approached Dickerson’s mother at the bank with her hands on her hips. “I just want to let you know that your babysitter has got your son playing in the city park with a Black boy,” Dickerson said, recalling the woman’s words. “The way Mother told it, the woman was tossing the N-word around in a loud voice like it was a cheer at a football game.” After work, his mother asked Elle if she had taken Jim to the park, and Elle asked if doing so had been a mistake. After pausing, his mother told her to take him there anytime she wanted. “So I integrated the city parks in Greenville,” he said. “I was always proud of that.”

James L. Dickerson with his beloved babysitter Sallie Mae Elle in Greenville, Miss. in the late 1940s.

You can’t tell Dickerson’s life story without examining it through the lens of the American civil rights movement in Mississippi. The babysitter story is one of many he has collected over the years as much of his life and career as a reporter, editorial writer and nonfiction author was shaped by ideas of race and inequality in the South. Dickerson, head of the publishing company Sartoris Literary Group, has authored more than 30 books. He worked as a staff writer and editor at three Pulitzer Prize-winning newspapers — The Commercial Appeal of Memphis; the Clarion Ledger/Jackson Daily News of Jackson; and the Delta Democrat-Times of Greenville. After spending 20 years as a Mississippi expat in Memphis and Nashville, Dickerson moved to Rankin County about 20 years ago to be closer to family.

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In the 1980s, he published and edited a national magazine titled Nine-O-One Network that made history by becoming the first magazine published in the South to obtain newsstand distribution in all 50 states and overseas in countries, such as the United Kingdom, Spain and Portugal. The 1968 University of Mississippi graduate recently visited the School of Journalism and New Media to discuss the possibility of creating a Chair of Excellence in Investigative Reporting and Opinion Writing with a focus on newspapers, magazines and books. Dickerson also discussed the creation of a James L. Dickerson Literary Trust, making an endowment for the chair. The discussion stems from the success of the book, Colonel Tom Parker: The Curious Life of Elvis Presley’s Eccentric Manager, an investigative biography. Originally published in 2001 by Cooper Square Press, Dickerson purchased the book rights two years ago and republished it under his Sartoris imprint. “Shortly after I purchased the rights to the book, an executive at Warner Bros., called my literary agent and inquired about optioning the book for noted director Baz Luhrmann for his upcoming film about El-

vis Presley as seen through the eyes of Colonel Parker,” he said. “I agreed to the terms and - subsequently - it was announced that actor Tom Hanks would star in the film, playing the role of Colonel Parker. Priscilla Presley told a Today show interviewer that she was advising the director on the film.” Despite Hanks contracting COVID-19 while in Australia earlier this year, the movie is still scheduled for release in fall 2021, Dickerson said. Luhrmann directed the films Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby. UM Interim Dean Debora Wenger, Ph.D., said Dickerson was also interested in meeting with students and faculty during his visit. “Like a lot of our alumni, Jim came back to campus to reconnect with a place he loves,” she said. “Because Jim is a big proponent of investigative journalism and editorial writing that can change lives, he is very interested in helping to keep that focus alive in our school. With his support, we can teach graduate students who are able to make Mississippi, the country and even the world a little bit better. This chair of excellence could be a game-changer for us in many ways.” Will Norton Jr., Ph.D., said Dickerson has been friends with UM Professor Joe Atkins for decades. “He expressed an interest to Joe in making a donation to the school in recognition of his lifetime of commitment to investigative reporting and editorial writing,” Norton said. “He is a fascinating storyteller and precise reporter. It will enhance the reputation of the School of Journalism and New Media to have his name and his career associated with the school.” Dickerson has always been interested in books. In first grade, he received a certificate from the Greenwood-Leflore Public Library for reading more books during the summer than anyone else in the county. By age 12, he had written his memoir, but it didn’t include the many colorful experiences he would later have as Mississippi evolved during the civil rights movement. His family moved from Greenville to Hollandale. From the time he was 10, Dickerson worked in his grandfather’s department store on Saturdays from 8 a.m. until closing and befriended many customers, Black and white. “With my money, I bought a Yazoo Big

JAMES L. DICKERSON Wheel lawn mower,” he said. “One day, it was in the garage, and the garage didn’t have a door. I looked out my window, and I saw a Black man about 20 — tall, with a bandana on his head — stealing my mower. So I ran out of the house chasing (him) down the alley. He saw me and left the mower, and I took it back. But I told my mother, and she told the police chief. “About a week later, the police chief said, ‘I need you to come by and identify the guy who stole your mower.’ “So I went to the police station, and they had about a 16-year-old Black boy — short, not tall — and his face — he had been beaten. His face was bloody. His eyes were swollen. “I said, ‘That’s not him.’ “He said, ‘Well, he’s confessed.’ “I said, ‘That’s not him.’ “He said, ‘Well, Jimmy, you have to say it is because he’s confessed.’ “I said, ‘I’m not going to say that,’ and that changed my life.” By age 17, Dickerson had read everything William Faulkner had written. It’s one of the reasons he chose the University of Mississippi over an Australian university. He studied English and psychology, played in several bands and experienced many impactful civil rights moments in the first six months of his freshmen year. James Meredith was on

campus. So was Cleve McDowell, the second Black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. “Once, I was in the cafeteria, and there was a big middle section,” Dickerson said. “I was eating lunch, and Cleve McDowell came in and put his tray down about three tables away from me. Everyone but me got up and walked out. They weren’t going to eat in a room with him. “He didn’t look like he wanted to talk. He didn’t try to start a conversation. I just sat there and ate my lunch. He ate his lunch.” Years later, when Dickerson began writing a book, he reached out to McDowell to interview him and asked if he remembered the cafeteria incident when everybody left, refusing to eat with him. “He said, ‘Yeah. Everybody but one white boy.’ “I said, ‘That was me.’ “He said, ‘That was you? You were the one?’ “He was murdered the day before I was supposed to interview him. They said he was murdered by one of his clients. I don’t believe it for one moment,” Dickerson said. McDowell, a civil rights attorney who had been a public defender in Sunflower County for 30 years, had been part of a group work-

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BOOK REPORT

ing to re-examine cases in which Black civil rights activists had been killed. He was found shot to death at his home in 1997 at age 56. During his first six months at UM, Dickerson also quit his UM fraternity because they blackballed his bandmate, who was Jewish. “I was eating soup and cornbread for lunch,” he said. “I just exploded. I threw my cornbread down into the soup. It splattered over everybody at that table, and I said, ‘See ya,’ and I never went back. “I was not raised that way. We had Jewish families in my hometown. Nobody said anything about them. We had Chinese families. We had Lebanese families. We had Syrian families. We had French families. It was just a melting pot in my little hometown,” Dickerson said, describing Greenville as the multicultural center of Mississippi at the time. He said his friend later transferred from UM to Tulane to attend medical school. While all of these stories that happened during Dickerson’s freshman year affected him, one specific incident in 1963 changed his life. On Nov. 22, he was on campus when President John F. Kennedy was shot, and he was repulsed by the reactions of some students. “He was hated by Ole Miss students,” he said. “I heard a commotion on the street, horns honking. There was a caravan of cars as far as I can see. Everybody waving Rebel flags. They would move a little bit and stop, move a little bit and stop. “I said ‘What’s going on?’

“Jim has written dozens of books and contributed greatly to the publishing of many others. He believes strongly in quality journalism and its importance in society.” — Professor Joe Atkins A guy said, ‘They killed Kennedy. Hotty Toddy! Gosh Almighty! Who the Hell are We?’ “All the things I’ve told you affected my life, but that had a huge effect on who I later became . . . I just couldn’t believe it. You don’t celebrate the death of a president . . . They were Ole Miss students just like me, and that was not acceptable.” Dickerson’s first newspaper job was with Hodding Carter III, the man he said hired him to work at the Delta Democrat-Times before leaving for a position in President Jimmy Carter’s administration as assistant secretary of state for public affairs, and later state department spokesman. After a lengthy career in newspapers, Dickerson has authored more than 30 books. Some include Devil’s Sanctuary: An Eyewitness History of Mississippi Hate Crimes, Inside America’s Concentration Camps: Two Centuries of Internment and Torture and Yellow Fever: A Deadly Disease Poised to Kill Again. Dickerson said the next book he’s written with potential to become a major

COMING SOON FROM JAMES L. DICKERSON: A biography, Chips Moman: The Record Producer Whose Genius Changed American Music will be published next year, and his soon-tobe-finished memoir I Have a Question: Memoir of a Southern Journalist will hopefully be published in the coming year. Devil’s Sanctuary: An Eyewitness History of Mississippi Hate Crimes, which was co-written with the late Alex A. Alston, Jr., a former president of the Mississippi Bar Association and a graduate of the Ole Miss Law School, will be published in paperback on October 1. “One of the interesting things in the book is the account of how Mississippi pioneered the use of waterboarding to get confessions of crimes from Black citizens who maintained their innocence,” said Dickerson. “The Mississippi Supreme Court eventually outlawed the torture technique but not before it had done decades of harm.”

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motion picture is about Lil Hardin Armstrong, musician Louis Armstrong’s second wife, whose parents were married in Oxford. The prolific songwriter became the first woman to play in male jazz bands in Chicago. Dickerson said she fell in love with Armstrong, wrote many of his songs, booked his recording sessions, played piano for them and was ultimately responsible for his success. Atkins said he met Dickerson shortly after arriving in Mississippi in 1981 when he worked as a business writer for the Jackson Daily News. “His desk was across from mine, and I remember him smoking his pipe and looking every bit like the thoughtful, intellectually inclined person you’d like to expect of an editorial writer,” he said. “Jim had a quiet confidence about him, and he was an isle of calm in what was frequently the stormy sea of that newsroom.” Atkins said he read his friend’s books over the years and several became important in his own research about the South and its tortured history. Dickerson later published two of Atkins’ fiction books. “Jim has written dozens of books and contributed greatly to the publishing of many others,” Atkins said. “He believes strongly in quality journalism and its importance in society. Jim dreams big. He’s a man of vision. Not every dream comes true, but many do, and he works hard to make that happen. Dickerson believes people stay in Mississippi for a lot of “complicated reasons, including the wish to make the state a better place in which to live.” He said that’s exactly what inspired him to create a nonprofit, Foundation for Literacy by the Book, which will develop creative solutions for addressing the literacy problems of the state, he said. “My relationship to Mississippi now? It is as an observer for the ages and as a catalyst for change.”

North to Canada: Men and Women Against the Vietnam War 1999

Dixie’s Dirty Secret: True Story of how the Government, the Media and the Mob Conspired to Combat Immigration 1998

That’s Alright, Elvis With Scotty Moore 1997

Yellow Fever: A Deadly Disease Poised to Kill Again 2006

Faith Hill: Piece of My Heart 2001

Colonel Tom The Nicole Parker: The Kidman Story Curious Life of 2004 Elvis Presley’s Eccentric Manager 2001

The Hero Among Us: FBI Witness Hunter With Jim Ingram 2013

Mojo Triangle: Birthplace of Country, Jazz, Blues, and Rock ‘n’ Roll 2005

Just for a Thrill: Lil Hardin Armstrong, First Lady of Jazz Co-author with Alex A. Alston, Jr. 2012

Inside America’s Concentration Camps: Two Centuries of Internment and Torture 2010 Memphis Going Down: A Century of Blues, Soul, and Rock ‘n’ Roll 2013

Mississippi on My Mind 2019

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THE LAST WORD

In Memory of Ronald T. Farrar 1935 - 2020

BY LAREECA RUCKER

T

he University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media has lost a former leader who did much to promote quality journalism in schools throughout the South. Ronald T. Farrar, who was chair of the UM journalism department from 1973 to 1977, died May 18 at age 84. Farrar is also a former chair of the Southern Methodist University journalism department and former director of the University of Kentucky School of Journalism. He authored several books, including a biography of Walter Williams, who founded the world’s first school of journalism at the University of Missouri. He also wrote Powerhouse, a book chronicling the history of journalism education at the University of Mississippi from its origins in 1947. He retired from academia in 2001 as the University of South Carolina’s Reynolds-Faunt Professor of Journalism. Mark Dolan, an associate professor of journalism at the UM School of Journalism and New Media, met Farrar at the University of South Carolina as a graduate student. He said Farrar was a fabulous writer and historian. “Above all, he was kind, with an attitude that all things are possible, and that good ideas mattered,” Dolan said. “I was his teaching assistant in a large section of freshmen, among them Ainsely Earhardt, who went on to Fox News. I owe my teaching career to him.” Debbie van Tuyll, a professor of communications at Augusta University’s Department of Communications, was also one of Farrar’s

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graduate students. She describes him as an old-fashioned, Southern gentleman. “And I mean that in the best way,” she said. “He was gracious and open to those around him. That’s not to say he didn’t have his moments when he could be stern, but he always did so in such a way as to be non-offensive.” Van Tuyll said Farrar had an uncanny ability to assess where a student was in his or her intellectual development, meet them there, and help them move ahead in their studies. “He was the best combination of teacher and scholar,” she said. “And a fine copy editor. He caught so many mistakes in my dissertation that I should have caught. But mostly, he was there to offer encouragement and to be a cheerleader for me.” An Arkansas native, Farrar graduated from the University of Arkansas, earning a bachelor of science degree in business in 1957, according to a bio. He earned a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Iowa in 1962, and a Ph.D. in history and journalism from the University of Missouri in 1965. Farrar began his career in Arkansas, first as a reporter for the Arkansas Democrat in Little Rock, later as the news editor of the Daily Press in Paragould, and as the editor of the Trumann Democrat in Truman. He also worked for the Daily Iowan. Those who knew him said Farrar had the remarkable gift of never meeting a stranger. He was a great listener, a good man who truly cared about everyone he met and, in turn, they cared about him. He made and kept friends for life.

Van Tuyll said Farrar’s legacy is his students and scholarship. Because of his leadership and guidance, she won the American Journalism Historians Association Kobre Award this year for lifetime achievement. “I was so proud to tell Dr. Farrar about that – even though he’d never been active in AJHA,” she said. “Still, I wouldn’t have won that award without his hand guiding me through my studies and teaching me the importance of doing high quality, publishable research that answered a significant question.” Farrar was an internationally respected and gifted professor who taught, wrote and conducted research for nearly four decades. He was honored by the Society of Professional Journalists in 1969 with the Distinguished Service Medal for Research in Journalism for his book “Reluctant Servant: The Story of Charles G. Ross.” UM graduate Rose Flenorl said she met Farrar while attending a program her senior year of high school, designed to increase racial diversity at Ole Miss. “I had decided to major in journalism, so I had the opportunity to meet Ron Farrar,” she said. “He was an encourager. I so enjoyed my visit, my conversations with Ron and attending journalism classes. Of course, I decided to attend Ole Miss after that visit.” Flenorl said Farrar kept in touch with her throughout her career and continued to track her progress. “Leadership matters. Effective leaders build strong cultures, inclusive environments and collaborative teams,” she said. “They also attract the best in faculty, staff and students.” She graduated from UM with a degree in journalism and English and now works in corporate communications as Manager of Global Citizenship at FedEx Corporation in Memphis. Charles L. Overby, former chairman and CEO of the Freedom Forum, Newseum and Diversity Institute, is chairman of the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics located inside the UM School of Journalism and New Media. “My own personal experience showed me that Ron cared deeply about his students, both while they were at Ole Miss and afterwards,” Overby said. “He was a good educator and administrator, but more than that, he was a very caring people person. Ron became a friend for hundreds of students long after they left Ole Miss.”

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

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Market Research Business Communications

RESEARCH

REPORTING News Judgment

Justice Reporting

Advertising Analysis Marketing Principles

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Photography

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VISUAL STORYTELLING

ILLUSTRATION BY ELLEN KELLUM

THE REVIEW

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THE REVIEW UM SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA MAGAZINE

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