Contributed by Ashley Barnett

Meek School senior Ashley Barnett honed her reporting skills with an internship at WREG-TV in Memphis.

Unlike some majors, journalism is hard to learn from behind a school desk. It’s not a subject that can be taught entirely with books or through tests.  Instead internships, freelance jobs or campus media offer a great way to learn through experience.   

Bruce Moore, news director of Memphis CBS affiliate WREG, says that internships are important because interns are able to see both the good and bad in newsrooms.

“Students should have an understanding and overview of what a newsroom goes through day in and day out. It’s important to know why we do what we do and how we do what we do, on camera and behind the scenes,” Moore says.

What Moore encourages students do while still in college is to learn to write and speak well. For Moore, having good grades is also a plus; he says that he looks more closely at students with high GPAs because it shows what hard workers they are.

“The best predictor of future behavior is what someone has achieved in the past,” Moore says.

WREG anchor Alex Coleman prepares for the evening newscast.

For those he hires freshly hired out of college, Moore says he wants these new employees to know that they don’t know everything.

“I expect them to be willing to learn, willing to be guided, have an open mind and a willingness to explore new things,” says Moore.

He also suggests that interpersonal skills are necessary for success in journalism.

“It’s important for somebody to be able to talk, speak politely and diplomatically, if necessary. Somebody who can look you in the eye and can ask and answer questions directly,” Moore says.

When asked about his best advice for a journalism student Moore said, “Be curious and be honest.”

He also adds that  students should be prepared to make mistakes.

“It’s impossible to enter this work world without messing up every now and then,” Moore says.

Ashley Barnett is a senior, focusing on broadcast journalism.  She recently completed a second internship at WREG-TV in Memphis.

Tommy Miller, former reporter and teacher

Tommy Miller, who taught reporting and editing at Ole Miss in the 1980s, died at his home in Beaumont, Texas,  on July 30, 2011, of complications from a form of degenerative dementia. He was 66.

Miller left Ole Miss to become deputy managing editor of the Houston Chronicle, where he was later managing editor of one of America’s largest and most influential papers. Until retirement he held the Roger Tatarian Chair in Journalism at Fresno State University.

Tony Pederson, managing editor when Miller went to Houston, said, “His commitment to young people and teaching was constant. He never stopped being a teacher from the time he first sat down and edited stories.”
Read Will Norton’s blog on Miller’s death on this site and the comments from Miller’s students.
Also, http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7676554.html

Check our official Facebook page for a new photo album full of pictures from the recent visit from Ethiopian dignitaries.

Oxford Eagle also wrote a fantastic story about the visit which can be read here.

Registration is now open for the ACT international magazine conference.

The Magazine Innovation Center of the Meek School of Journalism and New Media is accepting limited registrations for its second annual international magazine conference. A list of speakers and programs has been confirmed. Be sure to register today: http://www.mrmagazine.com/act/

The Hon. Girma Biru, ambassador to the United States from Ethiopia, spoke to Ole Miss students and fielded questions about his country during a visit for which the Meek School was host. The delegation included a vice president and a communications officer for Addis Ababa University who met with several academic units, including Journalism, about future cooperative agreements and exchanges between the two universities. AAU has 60,000 students.

Sean Kinney, who graduated from Ole Miss in May 2008 with a journalism minor, has won a first place Florida Press Association award in the news writing category. His piece for McClatchy Media was on the fallout of the Haiti earthquake in Key West, where he resides.

The award is Kinney’s fourth FPA award in three years.

Recommended Hardware
[Purchase recommended laptop with hard drive and Applecare Protection Plan]

NOTE: This laptop is only required for students taking a “skills” class (like Journalism 271)

15-inch: 2.0 GHz Macbook Pro
(The 13-inch model is also acceptable. This applies to both the 2010 and 2011 models.)

– 2.0GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7
– 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM – 2x2GB
– 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
– SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
– MacBook Pro 15-inch Glossy Widescreen Display
– Backlit Keyboard (English) & User’s Guide

Recommended – AppleCare Protection Plan

Highly recommended at time of purchase to provide extended warranty

Required Peripherals

– External hard drive: LaCie Rugged 500GB 7200 RPM with firewire. (Recommended)

– Students can purchase an equivalent 7200 RPM (that pertains to speed) external firewire drive that’s 250 GB or larger. There are several on the market. For video editing, the external hard drives must be firewire capable.

Note: Apple “Back to School” specials may be available beginning in June or July.

Required Software Applications

One of the following word processor programs:

– Microsoft Office Mac 2011 (preferred) [Purchase] or
– iWork (iWork can be preinstalled by Apple) [Purchase]

Non-Broadcast Students Only:

– Adobe CS5 Design Premium for all non-broadcast students (Adobe CS5 is not required for broadcast students.) [Purchase]

(OXFORD, Miss.) – Two accomplished communications professionals from Glenview, Ill., have committed funding for the first scholarship endowment to assist students pursuing degrees in integrated marketing communications through the University of Mississippi’s Meek School of Journalism and New Media.

Mary E. and John B. Thomas have created the Thomas Family Scholarship Endowment to pay tribute to John’s parents, Suzanne Jones Thomas of Chicago and the late Arthur W. Thomas, Jr., as well as provide help to UM students. The gift of $100,000 includes a match by the Abbott Fund, the philanthropic foundation of Abbott. John is the vice president for investor relations and public affairs at Abbott, and Mary runs her own communications consulting firm.

Arthur Thomas, a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, came to Mississippi in the 1950s to serve as the managing editor of the Meridian Star and met his wife, a Meridian native. Although the family soon moved to Chicago for the patriarch to pursue a public relations career, he introduced his son to the journalism program at Ole Miss. (more…)