The Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics at the University of Mississippi has announced its fall lineup of programs focusing on the future of journalism, politics and the upcoming election in Mississippi.
“This fall’s programs offer great conversations with and about nationally recognized experts,” said Charles Overby, chairman of the center. “The audience will also have an opportunity to join these conversations.”
Each event will take place in the Overby Center Auditorium at 555 Grove Loop. The programs are free and open to the public, and parking will be available in the lot adjacent to the auditorium. The schedule includes:
Thursday, September 5, 5:30 p.m. — PLOTTING THE FUTURE OF NEWSPAPERS AND JOURNALISM
Walter E. Hussman Jr., a third-generation newspaperman who is the publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, will discuss the future of news media and discuss his strategy of giving iPads to subscribers and other innovations to keep newspapers vibrant in the community. Hussman, who is president of his own media company, WEHCO, will talk with Charles Overby.
Wednesday, October 2, 5:30 p.m. —THE BATTLE BETWEEN TRUMP AND THE PRESS
Peter J. Boyer, a veteran political journalist and an Ole Miss alumnus who has extensively covered the evolution of American politics and analyzed the intersection of politics and the press, returns to campus for a conversation with Overby Fellow Curtis Wilkie about the nasty relationship between the President and the news media.
Wednesday, October 16, 5:30 p.m. — LOOKING AHEAD TO THE MISSISSIPPI ELECTIONS
Two veteran Mississippi political handlers, Austin Barbour, a Republican, and Brandon Jones, a Democrat, analyze the upcoming state elections, following up on their initial assessments in an Overby program last fall. They will be joined in the discussion by Overby and Wilkie.
Wednesday, October 30, 5:30 p.m. — THE FIGHT FOR PRESS FREEDOM
David E. McCraw, the top newsroom lawyer for The New York Times who became a social media sensation with his response to the Trump campaign’s threat to sue the newspaper for libel, recounts his experiences at The Times during the most turbulent era for journalism in generations. McCraw, a vice president and assistant general counsel will talk about his new book, “Truth in Our Times,” and the struggle for press freedom in an age of alternative facts with Overby and Greg Brock, a retired Times editor who is now an Overby Fellow.
Wednesday, November 20, 5:30 p.m. — FANNIE LOU HAMER’S AMERICA
The screening of a documentary about one of the most powerful voices of the civil rights movement, Mississippi’s legendary sharecropper and activist, the late Fannie Lou Hamer, will be followed by a Q&A session with the film’s director, Joy Elaine Davenport. Mrs. Hamer’s testimony as a Mississippi freedom Democrat at the 1964 Democratic Convention stirred the nation.
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