NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Students will be challenged to attain “Excellence in Journalism” with a biblical worldview at the 7th annual Baptist Press Collegiate Journalism Conference Oct. 11-13 at a new location, the Sheraton Music City Hotel in Nashville, Tenn.
Lauren Green, a religion correspondent for Fox News Channel, is among the keynote speakers, as well as Manny Garcia of the Miami Herald, Don Boykin of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Gary Fong of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Students may register by visiting the conference website, www.bpnews.net/journalism. Also on the website, students may view a schedule, find guidance for making hotel reservations and read about the faculty members.
“Excellence in Journalism is more than a theme for the conference, it’s a challenge,” said Will Hall, executive editor of Baptist Press. “The conference is developing into a great opportunity to hone skills in the several crafts of journalism and is poised to offer a time of meaningful fellowship with Christians who are experts from top newsrooms and media outlets in the country.”
Participants will attend general sessions — with special music by recording artists Everyday Driven — as well as workshops addressing specific topics related to journalism. The event will culminate in an awards banquet recognizing the top schools and individuals who entered their work in the 2007 Excellence in Journalism Competition.
Workshop topics will include leadership lessons, graphic design, freelance writing, podcasting, photography and internships.
Baptist Press will present a $1,000 scholarship for the winner of the annual President’s Award to be announced at the awards banquet. The scholarship and award will go to a candidate who has shown sustained excellence as a student journalist and who meets certain academic criteria. The deadline for entering the President’s Award competition is Sept. 15. For details, go to www.bpnews.net/journalism and click on the link for President’s Award.
This year, Baptist Press is continuing to offer during the journalism conference critiques by industry experts of students’ personal portfolios, newspapers and yearbooks. There will also be an intern fair.
“I’m confident that faculty and participants alike will experience a time of rewarding growth in their walk and in their work,” Hall said.
Faculty for the 2007 conference include: Morris Abernathy, Union University; Bill Bangham, International Mission Board; Don Boykin, Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Bob Carey, Gardner-Webb University; Sterling Chen, Philadelphia Inquirer; Michael Chute, Union University; Kelli Cottrell, Cornerstone University; Reggie Ecarma, North Greenville University; Gary Fong, San Francisco Chronicle; Manny Garcia, Miami Herald; Gordon Govier, InterVarsity; Joni B. Hannigan, Florida Baptist Witness; Rudy Kalis, WSMV-TV, Nashville, Tenn.; Michael Longinow, Biola University; Susan Mathis, Focus on the Family; Terry Mattingly, Scripps Howard News Service; Jimmy McCollum, Lipscomb University; Deborah Evans-Price, freelance journalist; Les Sillars, Patrick Henry College; Todd Starnes, Fox News Radio; Jim Veneman, Union University; Jessica Webb Sibley, Daytona Beach News-Journal; and Karen Willoughby, Louisiana Baptist Message.
The awards banquet will be Saturday, Oct. 13 at the Sheraton Music City Hotel.
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For more information or to download a flyer, visit www.bpnews.net/journalism.
