Prominent headliners include former CBS News anchor Dan Rather, ESPN sportscaster Ron Franklin and author Thomas Flynn.
“We have speakers from advertising, public relations, magazines, documentaries, newspapers and integrated marketing communications,” said Sue Weakley, UM instructor of journalism.
The school also is hosting a ceremony in observance of the UM campus being named the 2010 National Historic Site in Journalism by the Society of Professional Journalists. Rather and investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell are the speakers at the 11 a.m. event in the Overby Center Auditorium.
The SPJ’s Historical Sites in Journalism is a program to honor people and places that have played significant roles in the history of American journalism. The university was chosen to honor those who reported on the 1962 James Meredith crisis that engulfed the campus.
“This honor came about because the SPJ student chapter nominated Ole Miss last year in conjunction with the dedication of a memorial bench in memory of Paul Guihard, who was killed on campus during the 1962 riots,” said Kathleen Wickham, associate professor and director of graduate studies at the school. “The honor recognizes not just Guihard but all the reporters who were here at the time, who had their equipment broken and lives threatened but persevered to get their story,”
Another highlight of the week comes Thursday, when Flynn, celebrated journalist and author of “Bikeman: An Epic Poem” (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2008), presents the fifth annual Stuart Bullion Lecture at 10 a.m. in the Overby Center Auditorium. The Stuart Bullion Lecture honors Bullion, who chaired the UM Department of Journalism from 1997 to 2004.
The weeklong celebration also offers a bit of fun for everyone, as the Big T Blues Band plays on the steps of Farley Hall at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
Kathy Y. Times, news anchor for WDBD-TV in Jackson and president of the National Association of Black Journalists, kicks off the week with a presentation at 10 a.m. Monday in the Overby Center Auditorium. Don Schultz, Professor of Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University is also speaking at 11 a.m. Monday in Farley Hall, Room 202, followed by Kathy Potts, vice president and director of account management for Ramey Agency at 1 p.m. in Overby Auditorium and filmmaker Mike Walter, best known for his documentary, “Breaking News, Breaking Down,” at 4 p.m. in Overby Auditorium.
Tuesday’s lineup includes Jerry Scott, vice president for marketing at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, at 8 a.m. in Overby Auditorium; ESPN’s Franklin, an Oxford native and UM alumnus, at 11 a.m. in Overby Auditorium; Denton Gibbes, founder of the online newspaper msdigitaldaily, at 2 p.m. in Overby Auditorium; and Lee Ragland, director of public relations for the Godwin Group, at 4 p.m. in Farley Hall, Room 125.
Myra Bean, sports editor at the Panolian in Batesville, speaks at 9 a.m. Wednesday in Farley Hall, Room 125.
Friday’s schedule includes John Malmo, independent marketing consultant at Archer-Malmo advertising agency in Memphis, at 9 a.m. in Farley Hall, Room 202; and Kalisha Whitman, anchor and reporter for WTVA-TV in Tupelo, at noon in Farley Hall, Room 125.
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