Reflector (newspaper)
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| The Reflector | |
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| Type | Student newspaper |
| Format | Broadsheet |
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| Owner | Mississippi State University |
| Editor-in-Chief | Erin Kourkounis |
| Founded | 1884 |
| Price | First copy free; additional copies 25 cents |
| Headquarters | Henry Meyer Student Media Center Mississippi State University Starkville, Mississippi, United States |
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| Website: reflector-online.com | |
The Reflector is the student newspaper of Mississippi State University. It was founded in 1884, less than a decade after MSU's establishment. With a circulation of 12,000, it is one of the larger college newspapers in Mississippi. It competes in the Southeastern Journalism Conference each year, which recognizes student newspapers across the southern United States.
The Reflector editorial staff consists of approximately 10 students, along with a staff of writers and photographers. Journalism instructor Frances McDavid serves in an advisory capacity for the editorial staff and students. A separate department is devoted to advertising.
The Reflector's web site, The Reflector Online is a member of the College Publisher Network. Breaking news updates and web-only stories are featured on the site.
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[edit] History
The Reflector was started in 1884 by a campus organization known as the Dialectic Society. Composed of faculty members, the staff of the (then) Dialectic Star began writing a monthly campus bulletin intended to inform students of campus and area events.
Years later, the Dialectic Star became the Dialectic Reflector.
During the 1915-1916 school year, the student body officially took over control of the then-named College Reflector, and it became a weekly publication. It was finally changed to its current name in 1922.
The Reflector has printed every year since 1889 except during the 1944-45 school year. During World War II, so few students were available on-campus to contribute, the English department assumed responsibility and published a weekly bulletin in its place, called The Maroon and White.
The Reflector is published every Tuesday and Friday.
[edit] Difference among competitors
Though the literary society's movement did give birth to The Reflector, which in appearance and content imitated the polite college publications of its day, the concept was much different than the magazine coming from Ole Miss.
The Reflector had campus news, athletics pages and sections devoted to agriculture and industry. Ole Miss may have snubbed its nose at Mississippi A&M's publication, but Oxford's paper advertised itself as literary and nothing else.
[edit] Controversy
[edit] God is Dead
An incident in 1970 prompted the university to assign an adviser to oversee the production of the newspaper. The editor at the time, Grady Thurman, decided to print an article which presented the infamous God is dead argument in its publication.
Though the article was not written by the editor at the time, it prompted the Mississippi College Board to assign an adviser, Henry Meyer, to the newspaper staff. Meyer, a retired local journalist and former professor, helped the ever-changing staff for more than 25 years. Today the building that houses offices for The Reflector and the Reveille bear his name.
[edit] Discrimination
The second issue involved members of the Mississippi Gay Alliance who wanted to run an advertisement in an issue of the newspaper. When the editor refused to run the ad, the group took the issue all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The editor won the dispute, giving The Reflector Supreme Court precedence for its continued discretion toward issues dealing with freedom of the press.
[edit] Awards
The Reflector has been awarded many collegiate press awards, most notably for its layout and reporting. Most recently, The Reflector took home awards from the Southeastern Journalism Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The publication staff also took the General Excellence award at the 2006 Mississippi Press Association college newspaper convention.
The Reflector was awarded best newspaper in the South in 2007 at the Southeastern Journalism Conference.
[edit] Current Staff
- Erin Kourkounis - Editor-in-Chief
- David Breland - Managing Editor
- Loren Province - Advertising Manager
- C.J. LeMaster - Online/Web Editor
- Josh Starr - Copy Editor
- Bud Sorey - Photography Editor
- Carl Smith - News Editor
- Matt Watson - Opinion Editor
- Brandon Wright - Sports Editor
- Kyle Wrather - Entertainment Editor
- Denise Kellum - Business Manager
- Frances McDavid - Advisor
[edit] Other names
The Mississippi State University-based Reflector is not the only newspaper of that name. There is also a Reflector community newspaper in Battle Ground, Washington. It was founded in 1909.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
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