2025 Mississippi Community Journalism Workshop

Thad Cochran Center Ballroom (Third Floor)
Look for a joint registration table where both high-school advisors and professionals will sign in and get their materials for the day.

Thad Cochran Center Ballroom (Third Floor)
Director Ed Simpson, Ph.D, School of Media and Communication, University of Southern Mississippi; and Director R.J. Morgan, Ph.D., Mississippi Scholastic Press Association

Joint session with the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association students and advisors. Hear details for the day before everyone disperses for separate sessions.

R.C. Cook University Union Room H
Sean Mussenden, Ph.D., DataHub Director, Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, and Derek Willis, Lecturer in Data and Computational Journalism, Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland; and Blake Kaplan, Regional Executive Editor, McClatchy

For all its threats and caveats, artificial intelligence is enabling news organizations to streamline their operations and harness new reporting power. Hear from Maryland-based researchers currently developing software tools that make it easier for local news organizations to acquire and make sense of newsworthy civic information, and get the latest on how reporters at The Sun Herald and other McClatchy outlets are building their own tools to supercharge reporting.

R.C. Cook University Union Room H
Director Ed Simpson, Ph.D, Associate Professor Lindsey Maxwell, Ph.D., and Professor Fei Xue, Ph.D., School of Media and Communication, University of Southern Mississippi

The Roy Howard Community Journalism Center has partnered with the Mississippi Press Association on a deep dive into the function and future of one legacy newspaper — The Greene County Herald in Leakesville, Miss. The goal was to perform a study from the audience up, with the goal of helping decipher what is working and what might work for content and business models in the digital age. Hear findings from this micro-market study and contribute to a conversation about where the project goes from here.

R.C. Cook University Union Room A
Professionals have access to the MSPA advisors’ hospitality suite, where you will find coffee and snacks.

Thad Cochran Center 216
Connect with both fellow media professionals and high-school journalism teachers at a joint lunch with MSPA advisors.

Thad Cochran Center Ballroom
Torsheta Jackson, Systemic and Education Editor, Mississippi Free Press and Report for America

Professionals are invited to join MSPA students and advisors for their convention’s annual Hamilton Keynote address. Torsheta Jackson will share her story as a former teacher with 20 years’ experience in the classroom, and why she chose to pursue a full-time role in journalism. She continues to work with students each summer as program director for MFP’s Mississippi Youth Media Project.

R.C. Cook University Union Room H
Megan Griffith-Greene, Faculty, and Kelly McBride, Senior Vice President, Poynter

As journalists, we are great at explaining almost anything — but we're not always great at making the case for why what we do has value. It's never been more important to showcase your ethics and practices, have strategies to listen and respond to reader needs, and find ways to build trust, community and a sense of belonging. This hands-on workshop will detail practical strategies for how to put audience needs at the center of your journalism and help the community understand why they should value, trust and support your work.

R.C. Cook University Union Room G
Richard Lake, Director of Video, and Bashirah Mack, Video Producer, Mississippi Today

Join Mississippi Today’s video team as they share learnings and takeaways from translating long-form reporting into vertical video for social media. This session will equip outlets that are accustomed to telling stories in writing and photography to use the format of TikTok and Instagram Reels as a strategy for growing engagement among new audiences.

R.C. Cook University Union Room H
Eric Feder, Director of Local Legal Initiative, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; Charlie Mitchell, Associate Professor, University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media

A new investment from Press Forward’s national infrastructure grants is enabling the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to expand its program to provide free legal support to local journalists and newsrooms. Mississippi is one of two states included in this grant. Meet the program’s national director, hear an overview of how the program works, and help build connections to make this new resource a valuable addition to our media ecosystem.

Keep the conversation going at The Brass Hat, located inside Hotel Indigo across Hardy Street from the campus.