SEMO TO FOCUS ON 'BIG PICTURE' AT MASS COMMUNICATION CONFERENCE

Southeast Missouri State University will focus on "The Big Picture: 21st Century Media Campaigns, Choices and Careers" at a mass communication conference April 28.

The daylong conference at the University Center is geared for the university's mass communication students and media professionals, said Berrin Beasley, assistant professor of mass communication and one of the organizers of the event.

This is the second year for the "Big Picture" conference at Southeast. The mass communication conference focuses on a different theme each year.

The conference will feature a number of speakers, including Don Flores, editor and executive vice president of the El Paso Times; Elliot Brack, associate publisher of the Gwinnett Section of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Jackie Jones, assistant city editor of The Washington Post; and Laurel Touby, freelance journalist and Webmaster.

Other speakers are Jim Smith, senior vice president of operations for Clear Channel Communications in Tulsa, Okla.; Mike Cleary, supervisor of media relations for Ameren Services in Jefferson City; and Patricia Fava, communications director for the American Conservative Union.

Clear Channel Communications owns 476 radio stations in the United States and another 240 abroad, and 13 television stations.

Beasley said conference speakers are donating their time. "It says something about what they think about the quality of the program here and the dedication to the students," she said.

Beasley said the conference will focus on a number of issues, including media credibility and diversity.

Research indicates that only a third of all journalists in the United States are women and only 11 percent are minorities. Flores and Jones will discuss "The Puzzle of Diversity" at a 10 a.m. session in the University Center Ballroom.

Flores, who works for the Gannett Co., owner of USA Today, is scheduled to talk about the way Gannett is trying to add different voices to its news production.

Jones will discuss how The Washington Post deals with diversity in its newsroom.

Jones and Brack will discuss media credibility during a 1:30 p.m. session in the Ballroom. The session is titled "Through the Glass Darkly: Improving the Credibility of the Media."

Beasley said the media has come under attack for focusing on the sordid, sensational story.

Currently, journalists rank lower in public respect than used car salesmen and lawyers, Beasley said. The session will look at the reasons why that is the case and what journalists can do about it.

The conference kicks off at 8:30 a.m. with a continental breakfast provided by the mass communication department in the fourth floor foyer of the University Center.

The conference concludes with a panel discussion, co-sponsored by the Southeast Missouri Press Association, which is holding its conference the same day.

The panel discussion will center on "Managing Politicians and their Campaigns in the 21st Century Media."