Journalism Faculty to Present at Six-State Regional Conference in New Orleans
March 24, 2008 by Samir Husni
The Society of Professional Journalists Regional Conference will be held in the city of New Orleans March 28 and 29. The University of Mississippi’s Public Relations Department issued the following press release yesterday.
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
http://www.spj.orgor 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
