Professor Douglas Starr Addresses Purser Hewitt Journalism Lectures

Douglas Starr

A veteran newsman in Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi and longtime professor, Douglas Starr will address a Mississippi College lecture series in early March.

A New Orleans native, Starr will be the guest speaker at the Department of Communication’s Purser Hewitt Lecture Series named for the former “Clarion-Ledger” editor.

He will speak to all journalism classes on the Clinton campus March 6 and 7 and attend a Tuesday luncheon in his honor at Anderson Hall. The luncheon begins at noon. Starr will discuss the future of the nation’s struggling newspaper industry.

Starr presently serves as an adjunct professor of journalism at MC’s Department of Communication. He’s a former professor of journalism at Texas A&M University in College Station, the University of North Texas in Denton, and at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

“My teaching is based in large measure upon two careers: one of reporting and writing for newspapers, broadcast and public relations and one of studying about and teaching those techniques,” Starr said. “I understand the pressure of news deadlines and demanding editors.”

During his career, he’s worked as a newsman for The Associated Press, and for newspapers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. He’s served in public relations positions with some of Florida’s high-profile state agencies in Tallahassee.

Early in his career, Starr was part of the team of journalists covering the Vicksburg tornado that devastated the Mississippi River City’s business district in 1953. The in-depth series of stories and photos helped the “Vicksburg Post-Herald” win the Pulitzer Prize in 1954. He’s also covered the South’s Civil Rights era.

Last year’s MC Department of Communication lecture series speaker was award-winning “Clarion-Ledger” investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell. The 2010 recipient was University of Mississippi professor Charlie Mitchell, former editor of the Vicksburg newspaper. The 2009 winner of the Purser Hewitt award was Marshall Ramsey, a “Clarion-Ledger” cartoonist who was twice a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

For more information, contact MC Department of Communication professor Tim Nicholas at 601.925.3462 or tnichola@mc.edu.