The Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards competition receives more than 4,500 entries each year from hundreds of journalism programs around the country.

This year, broadcast journalism students Margaret Ann Morgan and Stephen Quinn have been awarded first place honors for their breaking news television coverage of Hurricane Isaac. Their stories aired on the student-produced newscast NewsWatch 99 and were part of a multimedia coverage effort surrounding this major storm on the Mississippi coastline.

In addition, The Flood of the Century magazine was one of two national finalists in the best student magazine category, and student Jared Burleson was a national finalist for his feature photography.

SPJ Is the country’s largest and oldest professional journalism organization in the country.  The winners will be honored at the national convention in Anaheim, Calif. on August 25.

For the second year in a row, NewsWatch won first place in Student TV Newscasts at the Mississippi Associated Press Broadcasters (MAPB) banquet held Saturday, April 20 in Jackson.

Stephen Quinn won second place in TV News Reporting for his story on the 50th anniversary of integration at Ole Miss.  Norman Seawright won third place in Student TV Documentaries for his series on Togo.

NewsWatch also took home third place in Student TV Weathercasting.

For the past year, Nancy Dupont has been serving as the President of MAPB.  She will continue to serve as a board member during 2013-14.

 

This year more than 150 Ole Miss students were added to Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges, including 14 from the Meek School of Journalism and New Media. They are Tara Brando, Emily Cegielski, Kevin Cozart, Kimbrely Dandridge, Ashleigh Davis, Jontarius Haywood, Kim Hobgood, Gerard Manogin, Austin Miller, Margaret Ann Morgan, Emily Roland, Sealy Smith, Miriam Taylor and Katherine Williamson. From that talented group, three were selected by the university to be among the 10 students inducted into the 2012-2013 University of Mississippi Hall of Fame.

Margaret Ann Morgan is a broadcast journalism major who is this year’s Miss Ole Miss.  She has anchored NewsWatch and been actively involved in student government.  Morgan is from McComb, Miss.  Emily Roland is the editor of the Daily Mississippian and is from Bakersfield, Calif.  Kimbrely Dandridge is the current student body president and has also anchored NewsWatch.  She is from Como, Miss.

Selection of a total of 153 students for the Who’s Who honor, one percent of the student body on the Oxford campus, was announced in a ceremony at the Gertrude S. Ford Center for the Performing Arts.

 

 

Students often feel inundated with advice about the hundreds of skills journalists “must have” in order to be successful. But the journalists at WMC Action News 5 in Memphis have narrowed the list to five essential skills.

1.  Dedication

Photojournalist Bo Bradley says a real journalist has to be a dedicated one. He says you have to be willing to work the longer shifts and do the grunt work, really roll with the punches, to be successful in this business.

2. Persistence

Reporter Justin Hanson says there are going to be times when you have to be persistent to get the interview that will make your story come to life. Stick with it and you will be surprised what you can do.

3.  Creativity

Associate Producer Denisha Thomas says creativity drives the newsroom. You have to really use the right side of your brain and figure out what matters to your public and deliver it in a creative way.

4. Desire

Anchor/ Reporter Lindsey Brown, a graduate of Ole Miss, says you have to have the desire to make a difference through what you write and what you report. You have push through the long hours and realize that your hard work will pay off.

5. News Consumption

Assistant News Director Regina Thomas says keep writing and read a lot! Consume news from different outlets, both local and national, to compare and learn why and how they report the way they do.

It isn’t the most obvious skills and attributes — editing, writing, interviewing — that each of these successful journalists listed as most important.  Instead, they say, their list includes the things that matter most when you are pushed for deadline, hunting down the interview or covering breaking news.

Anna Ellingburg is a senior with an emphasis in broadcast journalism.  She recently completed an internship at WMC.

Armed with iPhones and Droids, students in the Meek School’s “Journalism Innovation” course headed out to produce audio slideshows for their first multimedia assignment.

Instructors Deb Wenger and Alysia Steele provided guidance and examples, but it was up to the students to find a topic that lent itself to storytelling through audio and photos.

“Sometimes the best news gathering tool is the one in your hand,” said Wenger. “Certainly, more and more professional journalists are relying on smartphones to connect with their audiences through social media or to cover a story on the fly. We need our students to know how to use as many devices as possible to tell a story.”

Students were also asked to review all the projects and vote for the best. The winners appear below.

Union Crowding
By Jennifer Peterson

An increase in enrollment at the University of Mississippi has created quite a crowd at the Student Union’s food court.

Ashley Keel is a senior who says freshmen are not the only students who are affected by the union’s long lines.

“I have very limited time between classes and I don’t always have time to go to my sorority house and grab a bite to eat,” Keel said.

During peak lunch hours, the Union’s spiraling lines and lack of tables are especially noticeable.

Keel says that although she believes the lines will die down after the freshmen get into sororities and fraternities, she thinks the university needs to address the problem.

“The lines are so long because of the way [the union] is organized right now. I think if they were to expand it or reorganize it, things would run a lot more smoothly,” Keel said.

Unplugged at the Union: NPHC hosts Meet the Greek Week
By Will Strouth and Alex DeJoy

Every Tuesday and Thursday from 12:15 p.m. to 1 p.m., students and faculty are drawn to thumping beats that echo across the Grove and blast through the Union plaza.

The Student Programming Board sponsors the “Union Unplugged” each week and features various performances and events from and for students.

“It is always interesting to see what will be out there as I walk from my first class to lunch,” sophomore Charlotte McMullan said.

Members of the Divine Nine sororities and fraternities that are part of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) gathered on Tuesday, Aug. 28 to participate in what’s called strolling. A traditional event for members of NPHC organizations, the loud music and specially choreographed dance moves always bring in a packed crowd.

Aug. 27 Monday kicked off “Meet the Greek Week” for NPHC and the week will conclude on Friday, Aug. 31 at 6 p.m. with a step show at the Ford Center.

James Meredith, who 50 years ago this fall became the first black student admitted to the University of Mississippi, speaks to packed house at Off Square Books.

Student photographer Lauren McMillin was there to capture images of Meredith, who signed copies his book, “A Mission from God: A Memoir and Challenge for America.”

McMillin is a student in Dr. Mark K. Dolan’s photojournalism class. He accompanied on the shoot, reinforcing in the field concepts learned in the classroom.

“It’s exciting when I have the opportunity to coach my students like this,” said Dolan, whose class will be chronicling with their cameras the university’s many events this fall to commemorate Meredith.

“Lauren had to work shoulder to shoulder with professionals who had the edge in terms of equipment and experience, but she more than held her own and got some great shots of Meredith, an internationally known figure. And to think these are her first published photos.”

Hours before Hurricane Isaac made landfall in Louisiana, a team of Meek School faculty and students drove through the night to cover the storm. Heading out at 2 a.m., sleep was hard to come by on the seven-hour trip to Biloxi, Miss.

Students Stephen Quinn and Margaret Ann Morgan brought a full complement of broadcast gear with a goal of reporting for NewsWatch, the student-produced nightly newscast.

Morgan made the most of her Mississippi roots and contacted family members who took in the team of four, including Assistant Professor Mikki Harris and Professional in Residence Alysia Steele.

With the storm still offshore, the crew toured the area, visiting buildings ruined by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, viewed plots of land still empty from the devastation and observed community attempts to revitalize the city.

The wind and rain picked up as the day progressed and the reporters talked to people waiting out the storm, spoke with the Biloxi police chief and captured video and still photos in the low-lying areas where water was already flowing into roadways.

Check back for updates on the student experience in Biloxi.
For links to the student stories, visit the DM Online.

Many broadcast journalism students go to college and learn to be reporters, but at the Meek School of Journalism and New Media, a new internship program is helping students tackle the task of producing newscasts.

The pilot program offered four undergraduates the opportunity to work as producers for six or more weeks at Jackson, Miss. television stations. Ben Hart, assistant news director at WAPT, supervised one of the Meek School interns this summer. He says writing is critical to the job of a producer.

“You have to have the basic writing skill to be able to tell a story and not just tell the story that someone’s told you,” said Hart. “You have to be able to explain the story someone’s told you. I think what we do here as producers is simplify bigger ideas.”

A news producer is at the center of the action in a newsroom. He or she will select stories based on what affects or could affect the most viewers in a designated market area (DMA). The producer has to be on top of all the news of the day when putting a show together.

The producer is also in touch with the reporters throughout the day. He or she is getting updates on how a story is going, may be redirecting a reporter to cover breaking news or might be coaching a reporter to make sure a certain element is included in a particular story.

Meek School graduate Amanda Coleman is now producing the 6 p.m. newscast at WAPT. She says organization, efficiency, accuracy

and timeliness are important skills for producers. She also offers this advice for students considering a career in producing.

“Definitely do an internship so you can see what you like about it and if you really want to do it.”

Brit Stack is a journalism major who took part in the Meek School of Journalism and New Media’s inaugural newscast producing internship program. She and three other students spent 6-8 weeks at Jackson television stations, learning how to craft a newscast and producing their own shows. To apply for the summer 2013 internship, please contact Deb Wenger: dwenger@olemiss.edu.