I’ve just returned from Biloxi where I attended the Mississippi Press Association’s annual convention. It’s a three-day affair, culminating in the Better Newspaper Contest awards luncheon. There, eight Pine Belt News staff members and contributors were present as we were awarded the coveted General Excellence Award, naming us the best in our class for the third year running. I’m amazed anew at the dedication and talent of these journalists, photographers, and graphic artists. We’re in this to win, and we’re in this for the long haul. An honor from our peers just reenergizes us and solidifies our commitment to solid journalism.
Other highlights from the convention included a talk by the Mississippi Speaker of the House, Jason White; a session led by Dr. Ed Simpson, the Director of the USM School of Mass Communications; and the induction of longtime sportswriter Rick Cleveland into the Mississippi Press Association Hall of Fame.
Dr. Simpson’s session was of particular interest, as USM has been awarded a three-year grant to fund the Roy Howard Community Journalism Center. This unique journalism project, funded by the Scripps Howard Foundation, will serve nine counties (including ours) in southeast Mississippi by creating newsrooms on the coast, here in Hattiesburg, and in Jackson with professionally led teams of student journalists enrolled at the university. This grant will fund a very valuable resource to news consumers of south Mississippi. On a personal note, they have agreed to provide all their work to us for publishing in our newspaper and digital platforms — and they will be interested in working with us on enterprise stories we may not have the time or resources to tackle. Exciting times!
Oftentimes, I find myself at these conventions to be one of the most conservative voices in the room. This time though, there was a conspicuous lack of discussion about the election looming before us in November. Nary a mention of the mammoth decision we’ll all need to make in a few months.
The recent debate highlighted our current president’s cognitive decline. A CBS News poll of registered voters conducted on June 28 and 29 cited that 72% of respondents believe that Biden does not have the mental and cognitive health to serve as president. 45% of registered Democrats think Biden should step aside. Apparently, he does not agree.
On the other side, Trump has been convicted of 34 counts of misclassifying hush money payments to adult actress Stormy Daniels in business records as part of a scheme to interfere with the 2016 election. A Trump campaign memo stated, echoing other polls: “Voters in our key target states have already made up their minds on this trial … And those in the middle are largely unconcerned, and their votes aren’t going to hinge on the results of the trial.”
Democrats believe that Trump is guilty no matter what, and Republicans believe the case was 100% politically motivated, and will most likely be overturned in appeal. According to the Pew Research Center, most voters say that they would replace both Biden and Trump on the presidential ballot if they could. What the independents will do remains to be seen, but this is likely to be an election to beat all. It’s going to get interesting folks…
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Christina Pierce is the publisher at Hattiesburg Publishing, which produces The Pine Belt News and Signature Magazine.
