SAVANNAH — Savannah State University’s Department of Mass Communications will host the 62nd annual Southern Regional Press Institute (SRPI) from Feb. 21-22. The two-day mass media conference carries the theme “Politics, the Press and Platforms: The Role of Mass Media in Political Campaigns” and will include workshops on radio/television production, marketing, public relations, journalism, graphic design and professional development for high school and college students.
The workshops will be instructed by more than 40 media professionals and educators, including Kenneth Irby, senior faculty, visual journalism and diversity, the Poynter Institute; Kimberly Starks, manager, media relations, the Georgia Lottery; Susan Catron, executive editor, Savannah Morning News; Dawn Baker, anchor, WTOC-TV; Mark Streeter, editorial cartoonist, Savannah Morning News; Sonny Dixon, anchor, WTOC-TV; Brandi Cummings, anchor, WTOC-TV; Rob Macko, anchor, WJCL-TV; Andrew Davis, anchor, WSAV-TV; Russ Riesinger, anchor and reporter, WSAV-TV; Kim Gusby, anchor and reporter, WSAV-TV; Julie Eisenman, news director, WJCL-TV; Jan Smith, news director, WTOC-TV; and Annabelle Carr, managing editor, Savannah Magazine.
Tory Dunnan, a correspondent for CNN Newsource’s “RunningMate,” will speak at the opening session at 9 a.m., Feb. 21, at the Kennedy Fine Arts Building auditorium. Based in Washington, Dunnan reports from political events, including the first presidential caucus in Iowa and first presidential primary in New Hampshire, CNN-sponsored debates and political conventions. She previously worked as a reporter and fill-in anchor for WPBF 25 News in West Palm Beach, Fla., working locally and traveling the state for storm coverage, wildfires, political events, major sporting events and announcements. Dunnan was also a general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor for WAFF 48 News in Huntsville, Ala., where she won an Alabama Associated Press award for her live coverage of former Vice Pres. Dick Cheney’s visit to the area and was part of an award-winning team that reported on fatal area tornadoes. She is a graduate of Brown University and the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
Eric Deggans, a journalist, author and media critic at the St. Petersburg Times, will be the keynote speaker at the closing Milledge-Owens Award Luncheon at 11:30 a.m., Feb. 22, in the King-Frazier Student Center ballroom. Deggans is the author of “Race Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation,” which traces the history of ‘prejudice as a business model’ and its consequences. A Times employee since 1995, Deggans originally joined the paper as a music critic and worked as a television critic and editorial writer and columnist specializing in race issues, pop culture, media and national affairs before taking the media critic position in 2005. Now serving as president of the Tampa Bay chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), Deggans is a past vice president of NABJ chapters in New Jersey and Pennsylvania where he spearheaded creation of minority affairs reporting positions at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in1993 and the Asbury Park Press in 1994. He has also developed a training program on racial sensitivity for recruits at the Pennsylvania State Troopers Academy.
For more information about the 62nd annual SRPI, contact Novella Cross Holmes, special project coordinator, at 912-358-3378.