UM Press Corps Teaches Students About Legislative Reporting

Several University of Mississippi students gained firsthand experience in legislative reporting this past month through the Meek School of Journalism and New Media‘s Mississippi Capitol Press Corps reporting class.
The two-week Wintersession course, led by journalism instructor LaReeca Rucker and Fred Anklam, co-editor of Mississippi Today, was designed to give students an overview of state government and how it works, with a specific focus on the Legislature. Each student chose a topic to write about and interviewed legislators and public officials throughout the two weeks about their specific issue.
The course also introduces the students to the reality of covering public policy issues as addressed by state leaders, Anklam said.
“They are developing skills for researching key topics and pursuing significant players in those topic areas in our state government leadership,” he said. “As co-editor of Mississippi Today, it has been a pleasure to work with the students to help them gain a better understanding of state government and politics and to give them a taste of what it’s like working at the state Capitol building.”
Besides working at the Capitol, the students spent time learning from government reporters.
“The students have been enthusiastic and fully engaged,” Anklam said. “Several expressed appreciation that they are getting to interact directly with state officials who have not provided such access to the general media.
“I have been delighted to hear the students express their ideas about key policy issues and see them question our state leaders on those topics.”
Rucker credits the idea for the class to Debora Wenger, the school’s assistant dean for partnerships and innovation and associate professor of journalism.
“She is always trying to bring new and innovative things to the journalism school, and she has wanted to add a legislative reporting class for a while,” Rucker said.
Rucker began designing the class by researching what other universities were doing with similar reporting courses. She also wanted to find someone who had a strong background in state government reporting, which led to the partnership with Anklam, an Ole Miss alumnus.
Anklam had covered government for The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson and national politics for USA Today. He is working to help the students have their work published on Mississippi Today’s website.
“It is one of many journalism classes in the Meek School of Journalism that offers an adventure outside of the classroom,” Rucker said. “While some professors take students on trips to the Mississippi Delta, to the civil rights museum in Memphis and even out of the country on reporting trips, this is the latest class that provides students with a hands-on learning experience.”
Logistics were a challenge, with the legislative session being in Jackson, three hours from the Ole Miss campus, Rucker said. But students spent the first part of each week in Oxford learning about the style of reporting and upcoming issues, and the remainder at the Capitol interviewing public officials, including Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, House Speaker Rep. Philip Gunn and Attorney General Jim Hood.
“They have also asked some really thought-provoking questions, and they are working on stories that I believe will make a difference in Mississippi, bringing attention to important issues that deserve closer examination,” she said.
Students in the course are: Kristen Bentley, a sophomore journalism major from Richmond, Virginia; Savannah Day, a sophomore double major in public policy leadership and broadcast journalism from Corinth; Briana Florez, junior broadcast journalism major from Burke, Virginia; Thomas Goris, a junior broadcast journalism major from Mequon, Wisconsin; Terrence Johnson, a senior journalism major from Columbus; Davis McCool, a freshman journalism and public policy major from Oxford; Savannah Smith, a senior double major in public policy leadership and print journalism from Corinth; and DeAndria Turner, a sophomore journalism major from St. Martin.
Students will also have their stories posted on Oxford Stories, the student newswire serve at Ole Miss. Rucker said she hopes the Mississippi Capitol Press Corps class will be offered regularly.
“We could not have asked for a better group of students or leader for our first Mississippi Capitol Press Corps class, and it’s an added bonus that Fred Anklam is an Ole Miss graduate that they can look to as a mentor,” she said.
“I believe the class was a success because Fred Anklam was our point person in Jackson who was able to arrange interviews with top state leaders. Students said they were impressed they had interview access to these important Mississippians.”
For more information about journalism programs at UM, visit https://meek.olemiss.edu.

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Staff Report