Mississippi State University hosted the 2024 Southeast Journalism Conference last weekend, welcoming student journalists from 27 universities across the Southeast. The event brought together approximately 230 students and advisors and featured well-known keynote speakers, workshops and the annual Best of the South awards ceremony.
The conference, organized by MSU professor and Reflector advisor Josh Foreman, provided college journalists with opportunities to network and learn from industry professionals.
Foreman, who coordinated the program, said many people have been congratulating him on the success of the conference.
“It was a great conference with a heart because there were so many people who knew each other,” Foreman said. “There was so much focus on Mississippi. Francis McDavid was there who had mentored, you know, some of our top panelists as speakers. Many people told me that it was a great conference, and it was, you know, a wonderful conference, and a few people told me that it was the best SEJC they had ever been to.”
Foreman said SEJC also had lots of support from other organizations on campus and across the Southeast.
“Why was it such a good conference?” Foreman said. “Yes, there was planning, yes, there were great speakers but the Office of Public Affairs, Student Affairs, Greg Barker and Gray Media gave upwards of $20,000 for us to put the conference on. So there’s a difference between planning and giving a lot of monetary support and then planning. So we had the support that we needed to design a great conference without stressing about costs.”
Isabelle Taft, a national desk reporting fellow for The New York Times and former local news reporter in Mississippi, was among the featured speakers and panelists.
Taft spoke about the importance of journalism and highlighted her investigative work at The Biloxi Sun Herald, where she examined the impact of Facebook rumors on real-world events in Picayune.
Ross Dellenger, a senior writer for Yahoo Sports and MSU alumnus, also delivered a keynote address. Dellenger, who once worked as sports and managing editor for the Reflector, shared memories of being taught by McDavid and reflected on his journey from student journalism to professional reporting.
In his keynote address, Dellenger also credited one of the SEJC conferences that he attended as a student as the start of his relationship with his wife, Elizabeth Crisp, who he worked with at the Reflector.
In addition to speaking at a panel with Taft, Crisp, a successful politics reporter and newsletter writer at The Hill, moderated a panel called “Digging for Information” with Dellenger and WLBT lead investigative reporter C.J. LeMaster. LeMaster also worked with Crisp and Dellenger at the Reflector as a student at MSU.
During the panel, Crisp, Dellenger and LeMaster gave advice on finding resources for information and forming good relationships with community members.
The Best of the South awards, held on Saturday night, celebrated excellence in student journalism produced in 2024 across various categories. MSU students and publications received top honors, including first place going to the on-campus radio station 91.1 The Junction for the best radio station.
Ivy Rose Ball, the Reflector’s editor-in-chief, secured third place for College Journalist of the Year.
“I was really honored to receive the award,” Ball said. “I never imagined when I first started at the Reflector that I could ever do anything like this.”
Other notable MSU awardees included:
- Lizzie Tomlin: 2nd place, Best News Writer
- Lizzie Tomlin: 2nd place, Best Feature Writer
- Grace Sullivan: 3rd place (tie), Best Arts and Entertainment Writer
- Ivy Rose Ball: 3rd place, Best Special Events Reporter
- Kate Myers: 5th place, Best Graphic Artist/Data Journalist
- Jill Horner and Michelle Dascbach: 3rd place, Best Magazine Designer
- Raylen Ladner: 2nd place, Best Radio News Reporter
- Aubrey Carter: 2nd place, Best TV Feature Reporter
- Taylor Howard: 2nd place, Best Radio Feature
- Anica Hankey, Rebekah Brown, Makenzie Stone and Presley White: 1st place, Best Advertising Staffer
- Michael Cassidy: 2nd place, Best Multimedia Journalist
- MSU: 3rd place, Best Public Service Journalism
- MSU: 3rd place (tie), Best Video Newscast
- MSU: 2nd place, Best TV Station
- Mary Balzi, Jamie Briggs, Madisyn Henry and Anna Welborn: 3rd place, Best Research Paper
