Holmes takes home three awards from Better Newspaper Contest

Holmes takes home three awards from Better Newspaper Contest

Holmes Community College won three awards in the 2018 Mississippi Press Association (MPA) Better Newspaper Contest. Individually, Ethan Burton, a sophomore on the Goodman Campus, won third place in the Cartoon Category for his cartoon "Shade," and The Growl as an entity won third in General Excellence and third in Editorials. The awards were presented during the 2018 O.C. McDavid Journalism Conference held March 28 at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame Museum in Jackson.

Three Holmes journalism students were able to represent the college at the conference: Cayla Holloway from the Goodman Campus, Nykeem Liddell from Goodman and Kanisha Wade from Ridgeland. Sponsored annually by MPA, the conference is named after the late O.C. McDavid, who served as managing editor of the Jackson Daily News. This year's conference began with a welcome by MPA President Paul Keane followed by a quick word about Mr. McDavid from his daughter, Carolyn. Next, Mississippi Arts Commission Director of Grants Diane Williams gave a presentation on storytelling through art before Clarion-Ledger investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell took the floor.

Mitchell, best known for reporting and writing stories that helped put four Klansmen and an accused serial killer behind bars, shared highlights from his colorful career and words of wisdom to the aspiring college journalists. When asked if he was ever scared for his life when he pursued these interviews/investigations of dangerous people, he remarked that "living fearlessly is not living without fear, it is living beyond fear…I'm a man of faith and I believe that it's important to live for things bigger and more important than just yourself."

Following Mitchell's presentation, journalists Emily Wagster Pettus with the Associated Press and Adam Ganucheau with Mississippi Today spoke about covering Mississippi politics. MPA Executive Director Layne Bruce moderated the presentation. After lunch was served, Bruce announced the winners of the Better Newspaper Contest before dismissing everyone.

For more information about MPA, visit www.mspress.org/.

For more information about student publications at Holmes, contact Mary Margaret Busby at mbusby@holmescc.edu.

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IN THIS PHOTO: Pictured is Ethan Burton of Goodman who won third place in the Cartoon Category of the Mississippi Press Association (MPA) Better Newspaper Contest. The Holmes Growl student newspaper also won third in General Excellence and third in Editorials.