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School of Journalism and New Media
University of Mississippi

Archive for the ‘Announcements’ Category

REEL SOUTH seeks documentary film entries

Posted on: March 19th, 2017 by ldrucker

Are you a documentary filmmaker who wants to share your work with others?

The documentary anthology series REEL SOUTH is now seeking entries for Season 3 of the series, including short films and broadcast length pieces.

“This past season, we featured the Mississippi-based documentary Shake ’em On Down,” said Sara Gusting, engagement coordinator for the documentary anthology series REEL SOUTH. “We would love to continue to incorporate Mississippi stories in our online series and Season 3. Now more than ever, we are excited to have public media highlight the stories of the American South.”

REEL SOUTH highlights the best non-fiction storytelling from the American South. Distributed to public television stations nationally, the series brings diverse Southern voices, topics, and points of view to millions of viewers. The deadline is April 1st, 2017.

REEL SOUTH is on the hunt for inspiring short documentaries about the American South for inclusion in the 2017 PBS Online Film Festival. The PBS Online Film Festival is a showcase for powerful and engaging stories from filmmakers across the country. The festival has become a popular annual online event, attracting more than six million video views over the past five years, as well as nominations in the Webby Awards.

Accepted running times are between three and 15 minutes, and films should have been completed in the past three years. The deadline for submissions is Saturday, April 1st.

REEL SOUTH is a co-production of PBS’ UNC-TV, SC-ETV and the Southern Documentary Fund.

To apply, visit: https://sdf.submittable.com/submit/79745/submit-to-reel-south-season-3

To submit your film, and for additional information, visit http://bit.ly/2lELtxw.

  • Story by LaReeca Rucker, adjunct journalism instructor

Mississippi Association of Broadcasters Day speakers offer advice

Posted on: March 6th, 2017 by ldrucker

A journalism or integrated marketing communications degree can lead to a job in public relations, marketing, sports promotion, creative services and many other categories.

That’s why the University of Mississippi annually hosts the Mississippi Association of Broadcasters Day. It will be held Tuesday, March 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Nancy McKenzie Dupont, Ph.D., is a professor of journalism at the University of Mississippi’s Meek School of Journalism and New Media and coordinator of the event that will be held in the Overby Center in Farley Hall on the UM campus.

“This event is for students to learn how to succeed in broadcast journalism and in marketing jobs at broadcasting stations,” Dupont said. “The day consists of portfolio critiques in the morning, a meeting with faculty, and small group discussions in the afternoon. The public is not invited to any of the events. It’s just for students and faculty.”

She said 15-20 broadcasters will attend.

“Broadcasters want to come to the Meek School because they believe it’s the best program in the state,” she said. “They want to help students during their time here. It would be a mistake for students to miss this opportunity to get a professional critique of their work and advice on how to land the job they want.”

Dupont said many students start out with the goal of becoming newspaper and broadcast reporters, but so many journalism jobs have changed, and there are many more career options for students.

“I hope students will learn what skills they need to be developing right now to make themselves ready for careers at broadcasting stations,” she said.

Her advice: Develop as many skills as you can—writing, video shooting, editing, social media, etc.—and intern as much as you can to gain experience.

For more information, contact Dupont at ndupont@olemiss.edu.

  • Story by LaReeca Rucker, adjunct journalism instructor

J-school senior wins Hearst Award in reporting competition

Posted on: March 5th, 2012 by

By Elaine Pugh
Ole Miss Zing

Marianna Breland of Forest has earned dozens of awards and honors during her four years at the University of Mississippi, but her recent national Hearst Award may top them all.

On the heels of being among 10 seniors inducted this spring into the 2012 Ole Miss Hall of Fame – the university’s highest overall honor – Breland has won fifth place in the 2012 Hearst Enterprise Reporting Competition. The annual event is part of the 52nd annual William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards Program.

Ninety-three students from 53 universities participated in the program’s second writing competition of the academic year. Breland received a $1,000 scholarship, with a matching grant going to the Meek School of Journalism and New Media. Of the five scholarship winners, she is the only one from Mississippi and from the SEC. The third-place winner is from the University of Missouri, which joins Ole Miss in the SEC this summer.

Breland’s winning entry originated last spring semester when the Meek School’s students enrolled in the Delta Project, a Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College journalism class, spent their spring break reporting in Greenville. They generated two dozen in-depth essays, which were made available to Mississippi Press Association member newspapers and published in the fall in a magazine format titled “Whatever Happened to Main Street.”
Breland’s article appeared in Greenville’s Delta Democrat Times newspaper on Oct 10, 2011. Her assignment was to cover the rise and fall of the towboat industry in the Mississippi River town.

Click here to read the full story.

Summer scholarships for journalism students

Posted on: January 12th, 2011 by No Comments

The Meek School of Journalism and New Media will be offering five scholarships for students participating in the following Division of Outreach internship programs this summer:

Washington Internship Experience

New York Internship Experience

EUSA London Internship

EUSA Dublin Internship

Newcastle University Summer School

University of Sunderland


Selected students will be offered a scholarship to cover the base program cost as advertised on the program website.

Students would be responsible for airfare, program expenses, and any housing/meals/transportation not covered in the base program cost.

To apply for the program, students should submit the following to the journalism office no later than February 10 :

– The Journalism Scholarship for Interns form

– A current unofficial transcript

A committee will then meet to select this summer’s scholarship recipients.  Winners will be announced by the end of February and must complete an application for the program to which their scholarship applies and be admitted to the program in order for their scholarship to post.

Applications for the scholarship and internship programs can be found at the following program websites by clicking the links below:

Washington Internship Experience

New York Internship Experience

EUSA London Internship

EUSA Dublin Internship

Newcastle University Summer School

University of Sunderland