THE MISSISSIPPI
PRESS ASSOCIATION
F
By Charlie Mitchell
or nearly 70 years, the common goals of journalism educators at the University of Mississippi and the Mississippi Press Association have been nurtured to the benefit of both. The MPA dates to 1866. It is the sixth oldest press association in the United States and perhaps the oldest in the South. Its original mission was to foster and encourage continued development of the state’s commercial newspaper industry. That mission, though diversified by the addition of Mississippi Press Services and the Mississippi Press Association Education Foundation, continues unchanged. Journalism at Ole Miss is much younger, dating only to 1946, when the degree field was added to the School of Business. It later was moved to the College of Liberal Arts and became the degree-granting Meek School of Journalism and New Media in 2009. While journalism at Ole Miss, like the MPA, has enjoyed continued growth, a core mission of the school — sparking the careers of effective, truth-centered communicators — has remained unchanged. “The University of Mississippi owes its primary duty to the sons and daughters of Mississippi taxpayers who save and sacrifice so their children are offered educational opportunities,” said Will Norton, dean of the Meek School. “We don’t forget that. For students here to serve internships or participate in special projects with Mississippi newspapers is a great plus for them. For them to work for Mississippi newspapers after graduation is something by which we measure our success as a school.” Since being appointed as inaugural dean of the new school, Norton has visited dozens of the state’s newspapers, large and small, usually with Layne Bruce, MPA executive director. The reason is to gauge how the school is doing and, more specifically, how the university can improve service to the state’s press. “MPA and its members have been blessed with a strong and active relationship with the journalism school at Ole Miss,” Bruce said. “We are indebted to the administration and faculty for being such strong supporters of journalism. Their role in cultivating the next generation of great writers and thinkers is a vital component of community journalism.”
38 MEEK SCHOOL
Work of the Jackson-based staff of the MPA is multifaceted, with much of the day-to-day operations centered on Mississippi Press Services, created in 1977 as a not-for-profit business subsidiary. Indeed, S. Gale Denley, a weekly newspaper publisher and respected faculty member at Ole Miss, was instrumental in designing and creating MPS. Denley knew that national and regional advertisers would appreciate the “one-stop shopping” aspect of MPS, which accepts and places display and classified ads statewide as customers direct. Denley, who was an MPA board member and served the organization as president, became a fixture in the organization and at Ole Miss, where the Student Media Center was named in his honor. Another prime connection between the journalism school centers on MPA’s Government Affairs Committee and the Mississippi Center for Freedom of Information, based in the Meek School. Creating a “good government” entity with a base broader than the state’s newspaper industry was the idea of 1997 MPA President Dan Phillips. As publisher of The Oxford Eagle, Phillips knew the state would be well served by clear and generous open meetings and open records laws. But he also knew that if only journalists lobbied for improvements, the chances of success were slim. Initially, the MCFOI was operated from Jackson, but it was eventually domiciled on the Ole Miss campus. With Jeanni Atkins of the Meek School faculty serving as executive director, the organization continues to be supported by media and non-media individuals and entities. It has worked with MPA Government Affairs every year, especially during the legislative session, and the result has been many improvements in access laws, in leading seminars for local officials and in administrative enforcement.
MUTUAL SERVICE Through the decades, Ole Miss has gladly served as host to regional events for MPA members and has provided faculty experts to serve as speakers and panelists for a multitude of MPA-sponsored clinics, workshops and conventions. Perhaps the most frequent guest in recent years is Samir “Mr. MagazineTM” Husni, who has appeared at dozens of MPA events to update members on industry trends and, more recently, to assist members
