OXFORD, Miss. – Four University of Mississippi journalism
faculty members are program participants for the six-state
Society of Professional Journalists Regional Conference
March 28-29 in New Orleans.
Kathleen Wickham, associate professor of journalism, is
program chair for the annual event, and Wickham’s faculty
colleagues Jeanni Atkins, Samir Husni and Curtis Wilkie are
slated as program participants.
The conference, being held jointly between SPJ Regions 8
and 12, is expected to attract journalists from six
Southern states, said Wickham, UM’s SPJ chapter adviser.
The two regions comprise the states of Texas, Oklahoma,
Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee.
Husni, journalism chair and Herderman Lecturer of
Journalism, is Saturday’s keynote speaker for the
conference. He plans to deliver the address “The Future of
Newspapers (It’s the Content, Silly)” at the noon
luncheon.
Wilkie, associate professor, Cook Chair and Overby Center
for Southern Journalism and Politics Fellow, is to be a
panelist for the discussion “Rascals, Renegades and
Rapscallions: Veteran Journalists on Getting Beneath a
Subject’s Public Persona.” Atkins, associate professor, is
the moderator. Other panelists are Julia Reed, contributing
editor for Vogue and Newsweek, and James Gill, columnist
with the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
SPJ is the nation’s largest professional journalism
organization with nearly 10,000 members dedicated to
encouraging the free practice of journalism and stimulating
high standards of ethical behavior. The regional spring
conferences also serve to highlight the work of collegiate
journalists with the presentation of awards in print,
magazine, broadcast and online categories.
Conference events are scheduled at the Maison Saint Charles
Hotel and Loyola University. Registration is $60 for
students and $95 for professionals. For more information on
SPJ, including membership in the organization, visit
or make requests to Kathleen Wickham, 131 Farley Hall,
University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677. Send
registration fee by check or money order payable to: SPJ,
Region 8 & 12 Conference, Travis Poling, Conference
Registration Chair, 2114 Northcrest Drive, New Braunfels,
TX 78130. No credit cards, please.
The conference programs also include the following titles
and presenters:
-“The Journalism of Disaster, Part 1: Using ‘Doctors
Without Borders’ to prepare for covering a humanitarian
crisis” features panelists Maira Garcia, editor, Texas
State University Star; Chris Boehm, reporter, Texas State
University Star; and Susan Weill, associate professor,
School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Texas State
University. Moderator is Kym Fox, senior lecturer and print
sequence head, School of Journalism and Mass Communication,
Texas State University.
-“The Journalism of Disaster, Part 2: The media’s response
in Katrina’s wake” features David Meeks, city editor, The
Times-Picayune; Jonathan Shelley, news director, WDSU-TV,
New Orleans; Marlin Defillo, assistant superintendent
Bureau of Investigations, New Orleans Police Department;
and Sally Forman, former communications director, City of
New Orleans. Moderator is Crystal Bolner, Loyola University
SPJ chapter adviser.
-“The Journalism of Race and Class: Did the media get the
Jena story right?” features Wendi C. Thomas, metro
columnist, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis; Craig Franklin,
associate editor/photographer, The Jena Times, Jena, La.;
Nicole Hutcheson, reporter, St. Petersburg Times, St.
Petersburg, Fla. Moderator is Sandy Davis, reporter, The
Advocate, Baton Rouge.
-“Plagiarism in an Online World: When to use them, when to
refuse them” featuring George Kennedy, professor emeritus,
School of Journalism, University of Missouri-Columbia,
Nicole Dahmen, assistant professor, Manship School of Mass
Communication, Louisiana State University; and John Zibluk,
associate professor, Arkansas State University. Moderator
is Joseph Hayden, assistant professor, University of
Memphis.
-“Defending Open Meetings: A case study from Knoxville,
Tenn., and Access to the Courts in Louisiana” features Jack
McElroy, editor, Knoxville News Sentinel; and Sherry Lee
Alexander, associate professor, School of Communication,
Loyola University, SPJ Louisiana Sunshine Chair, vice
president of the Louisiana Coalition on Open Government.
-“Journalism in a Converged World: How to balance our First
Amendment responsibility with the search for the money to
support it” features Freda Yarbrough, new media director,
The Advocate, Baton Rouge; Joe Hight, director of
information and development, The Oklahoman/NewOK.com,
Oklahoma City; and Dwayne Fatherree, managing editor of
NOLA.com. Moderator is C.M. “Sonny” Rhodes, assistant
professor, Mass Communications Department, University of
Arkansas-Little Rock.
For more information on journalism education at Ole Miss
visit
www.olemiss.edu/depts/journalism/.
For assistance related to a disabiltiy, call 662-915-7146.