Sonia Nazario, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author with the Los Angeles Times, was the convention’s keynote speaker at the Best of the South Awards Banquet. She urged journalists to be open-minded but to take an activist stand if necessary to correct the ills of society. —Photo by Robert BuckmanEmmalyne Kwasny, right, editor of The Reflector at Mississippi State University, was named College Journalist of the Year. At left is the paper’s faculty adviser and MSU faculty delegate to the SEJC, Frances McDavid. —Photo by Lindsey PaceGinger Blackstone, Ph.D., assistant professor of broadcast journalism at Harding University, left, discusses her experiences as a CNN producer and how to tell compelling stories beyond the local daily news programs. Larry Foley, Ph.D., of the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, participated in the discussion via Skype. At right is Ansley Watson, reporter with KATV Channel 7 in Little Rock, who moderated. Blackstone also is the producer of the documentary, “Missing Micah,” about the disappearance and murder of Harding nursing alumna Micah Pate in Memphis in 2009. Pate’s husband, who insisted the shooting was accidental, is serving a 25-year term in Tennessee. There was a screening of the documentary on opening night of the convention, Feb. 15. —Photo by Robert BuckmanAn oversized Rebekah Allen, a reporter for The Advocate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who has written more than 20 stories related to the death of Max Gruver at Louisiana State University, appeared via Skype as part of a panel on obtaining information on fraternity hazing violations from unwilling university administrators. Seated are, from left, Dwayne Fatherree, news director of KADN-TV in Lafayette, Louisiana; Kailey Broussard, managing editor of The Vermilion at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette; and moderator Robert Buckman. Fatherree and Broussard battled UL Lafayette for information on a hazing-related death there. —Photo by Julissa Lopez
More than a hundred students and faculty turned out Saturday morning for the panel, “Learning from the Little Rock Nine.” Photojournalist Philip Holsinger, seated on stage at left, and John Kirk, Ph.D., director of the Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity and the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, discussed the historical impact of the 1957 crisis at Central High School in Little Rock, when federal troops were called out to enforce a court order to admit the first nine black students. At right is the moderator, Kaleb Turner of Harding University. —Photos by Robert Buckman
More than 20 schools were represented at the annual business meeting the afternoon of Feb. 16. Leon Alligood of Middle Tennessee State University, which will host next year’s convention, succeeded Katharine Ramirez of Harding as president. —Photos by Robert BuckmanParticipating schools each year bring a stack of their newspapers for “show and tell.” —Photo by Robert BuckmanCompetitors work to lay out the front page of a newspaper as part of the layout and design on-site competition in the Harding University Student Publications office. — Photo by Kazu Fujisawa
Students from various schools took a breather and got to know one another after they completed their assignments for the onsite competitions. —Photos by Robert BuckmanSEJC President Katherine Ramirez of Harding University, left, chats with last year’s president, Patricia Thompson of Ole Miss, in the registration area. —Photo by Robert BuckmanSEJC Vice President Amy Jones of the University of West Alabama, left, discusses details of the 2017 Best of the South competition with Dorren Robinson of Belmont University. —Photo by Robert BuckmanCatherine Luther, Ph.D., of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, brought her school into the SEJC at the convention and took advantage of the opportunity to do a little recruiting. —Photo by Kazu FujisawaHannah Owens, director of digital media for Harding University, talks to students in the Heritage Conference Center about how to grow your publication’s online presence while keeping a consistent brand and truly engaging students. —Photo by Kazu FujisawaGwen Moritz, editor of Arkansas Business Journal, addresses the topic of the power divide in the newsroom and gives pointers on how she reached the top. —Photo by Kazu FujisawaPhilip Holsinger, a photojournalist, and Noah Darnell, professor of photojournalism, talk to students about keeping their photos in an accurate reality when storytelling. —Photo by Kazu FujisawaMaeghen Carter and Sandra McGrew of Ghidotti Communications give tips on creating short-form content in a fast-paced world and keeping your audience engaged from beginning to end. —Photo by Kazu FujisawaLou Butterfield and Stephen Hammonds, producers of the documentary “Missing Micah,” talk about what it’s like to cover hard stories like homicide that hit so close to home. —Photo by Kazu FujisawaDennis and Terri Rine talk about working alongside producers and storytellers who made a documentary outlining the disappearance and murder of their daughter, Micah, who was a nursing student at Harding University and the focus of the documentary, “Missing Micah.” —Photo by Kazu Fujisawa
Alexis Crowe, editor of Little Family magazine, talks about the strategies she implemented that helped double her publication’s online presence in just one year. —Photo by Kazu Fujisawa
