MSPA unveils statewide high school publication

MSPA+unveils+statewide+high+school+publication

High school students from across the state of Mississippi now have the opportunity to get published in the inaugural statewide magazine of the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association, The Red Clay Report.

The Red Clay Report will feature submitted works of journalism from high school students all over the state of Mississippi. Each annual edition will explore a major topic of interest in the Magnolia State. For its inaugural edition, the MSPA student officers have elected to delve into the state of the education system in Mississippi.

MSPA president Maggie Mallette said the executive board went through several theme ideas in search of a topic that was not too broad or too specific.

“Education is really accessible for high school journalists, because that’s where we are in life,” she said. “There are a lot of issues with Mississippi’s education system, but there are a lot of things good things we can highlight. I think this theme is generally pretty interesting, so we should have a high readership.”

The first step is to pitch an idea. Students interested in being published in the magazine should submit their story ideas online by Sunday, Oct. 19, by clicking on the Red Clay Report tab at mississippischolasticpress.com and filling out the short form. The student officers will then green light the best ideas for students to actually begin researching and reporting on.

MSPA vice president Reed Ashton Kevin said she is excited to see all of the video, written and photo pieces submitted to the website.

“I hope we receive a variety of submission content such as unique, engaging feature stores and investigative, hard-hitting news articles,” she said. “This is such a unique project we are creating and I am very excited to see students take advantage of this statewide platform.”

All story ideas will be considered, but special consideration will be given to those stories exploring in-depth education topics like school funding, education inequality, curriculum and testing strains or students/schools rising above their circumstances. The best in-depth feature stories use local stories to illustrate statewide issues.

The name Red Clay Report draws on Mississippi’s rural roots and native soil, while tipping its hat to the pliability of its future. MSPA secretary Owen Barnard said a panel of statewide student editors chose the name Red Clay because it embodies the substance of Mississippi.

“It is a unifying characteristic of the lands and the waters that is recognizable to those who live both here and out of the state,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to unite the state in one investigative journalistic effort under a single banner that combines us all.”

A statewide depth report magazine at the high school level is a truly innovative idea in the world of scholastic journalism. MSPA director R.J. Morgan said he is beyond excited about the project.

“There are two things that this state has in spades, talented student journalists and a plethora of problems for them to explore,” Morgan said. “A depth report magazine seemed like a natural way to get students from all over the state united in examining the world around them in a concrete, meaningful way. I’m hoping this project will launch someone’s career.”

The Mississippi Scholastic Press Association is a network of high school media staffs with over 100 member publications statewide. Since its inception in 1947, the organization has been housed at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. Member schools run the gamut from public to private, large to small. MSPA hosts regional workshops for students in the fall, its own summer camp and already rewards excellence in student journalism with its Best in MS awards at its annual statewide convention in March.