Powerhouse: The Meek School at Ole Miss

Powerhouse: The Meek School at Ole Miss, by Ronald Farrar, a history of the journalism department at the University of Mississippi from its humble beginnings in 1946 to the present Meek School of Journalism and New Media. Dr. Gerald Forbes was the founding chairman, and Ed Meek, an alumnus and benefactor, did much to propel it toward the top tier in its field. More

POWERHOUSE is a history of the journalism school at the University of Mississippi from its humble beginnings in 1946 to the present Meek School of Journalism and New Media. We meet Gerald Forbes, the man who founded it, and the men and women who nurtured it, and Ed Meek, an alumnus and benefactor who did much to propel it toward the top tier in its field. Like much else in the South, Journalism at the University of Mississippi started out small, and humble, with an old printing press in ramshackle quarters and two professors who as veteran newsmen knew how to write. They recruited talented, eager students, and the resulting combination developed its own chemistry and magic. The students were taught what questions to ask and to dig into a story until they had the facts needed to report it. The faculty didn't just teach their students how to write, but how to tackle a story with common sense, fairness, and often, when indicated, a lighter touch, to work hard and keep an eye on the little things as well as the larger picture. This was, and remains, the heart of the powerhouse that is Ole Miss journalism today.