Diamond Jenkins
Blue & White Flash / Associate Editor
Members of The Blue & White Flash joined students from Mississippi community colleges and other four year universities at the 15th Annual O.C. McDavid Journalism Conference on March 27 at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame Museum.
Named after the late O.C. McDavid, former managing editor of The Jackson Daily News, and hosted by the Mississippi Press Association, the annual one-day conference is held in Jackson, Miss. Funding is provided by the McDavid family to honor his memory.
Each spring since 1999, the MPA Education Foundation has sponsored the conference to recognize excellence in news reporting and advertising at college and university newspapers. Student newspapers compete for various awards and are judged by newspaper professionals from sister press associations.
Gene McDavid, son of O.C. McDavid was the first to speak.
“I started off in my diapers, so I know a little bit about the Mississippi Press Association,” said McDavid. “My dad was a wonderful writer and his life was a true testament to what talent, hard work and good upbringing get you.”
McDavid talked about his father’s legacy and what he remembered from him. He also provided everyone in attendance a copy of his father’s autobiography, “My Name is O.C.”
One of the highlights of the conference included a presentation from Rick Cleveland, the executive director for the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and journalist.
Cleveland, began his full-time journalism career at The Hattiesburg American in 1970 and worked at The Clarion-Ledger from 1979-2012 as a sports writer and columnist.
“Journalism [back then] is nothing like today,” Cleveland said to the college journalists. “Back then, newspapers were printed on metal presses and photos were developed in a dark room.”
Cleveland shared his introduction to social media and how he has learned the importance of using it in the journalism field.
“You need to tweet and you need to blog. I came into Twitter kicking and screaming. I was told I had to tweet and said ‘What?’” Cleveland said, “You can’t be lazy and be a journalist.”
Chris Todd, a sports photographer, was another featured speaker at the conference.
Todd, the former photography director at The Clarion-Ledger, started as a staff photographer in 1981. He was promoted to picture editor of the Jackson Daily News in 1984 before taking over the department during the merger with the Clarion-Ledger in 1986 and working there for 30 years.
He now works as a freelance photographer covering most of the high school sports events in Mississippi among other events.
Todd used pictures to get his message across and began his presentation with a powerful video slideshow highlighting some of his best action shots taken during high school championships.
“High school sports is pure…I’ve shot big stuff before, I’ve shot Superbowls and NCAA Championships and if you want to do that you need to be positioning yourself to that now.”
Kachelle Pratcher, a mass communications major from Chicago, Ill., stated that she has gained much experience from writing.
“This was my first time attending the O.C. McDavid Journalism Conference. I enjoyed the experience because I saw other students wanting to do similar thing that I want to do as a career and it inspired me,” Pratcher said. “I know I am gaining a lot of experiences being a member of the Blue and White Flash.”
Trerica Roberson, a senior graphic design major from Louin, Miss., won four awards in advertising and graphic design categories.
Alan Wells, illustrator for The Blue & White Flash won the first place award for Best Cartoon.
“I was happy when I got the award because art and photography is something that interests me,” said Wells, a junior chemistry major from Greenville, Miss. Wells also received the first place award for Best Cartoon at the 2012 conference.
The Blue & White Flash received nine other awards in categories for Best Miscellaneous Advertisement, Best Graphic, Best Feature Story, Best Generic News Photo, Best Layout and Design, Best Single Advertisement, Best Website, and General Excellence.
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