Oracle editor attends conference

Oracle editor attends conference

— Emily Bell, right, is editor of Henderson’s student newspaper, The Oracle.

Emily Bell, editor-in-chief of Henderson State University’s student newspaper The Oracle, attended a conference for student editors this summer at the University of Georgia in Athens.

Bell, a sophomore innovative media major from Malvern, joined student editors from across the nation at the Management Seminar for College News Editors (MSCNE). The students attended presentations by professional editors and award-winning journalists, and toured CNN headquarters. They also met with faculty and staff from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, and toured WSB-TV2 Atlanta where they networked with interns and news anchors.

Michael Taylor, professor of communication at Henderson State and Oracle faculty advisor, said he has sent new Oracle editors to the conference for more than a decade.

 “The program provides a rare opportunity for student editors to receive training and meet their peers from other institutions — in many cases much larger Division I schools,” Taylor said. “These fellow editors become a supportive network that not only helps in managing student publications, but helps participants as they enter their media careers.”

Student editors also presented their publications and discussed issues and solutions to help produce better publications. They critiqued each other’s publications and helped brainstorm their way through various editing problems they faced back home.

“I met so many like-minded student editors, and we are all keeping in touch over the next semester to continue helping each other in our positions,” Bell said. “I even met one of my top journalism inspirations, Lisa Respers France, from CNN.”