Dr. Elayne Hayes-Anthony was welcomed and heralded by the community as new director of the Jackson State University Department of Mass Communications during a reception Tuesday.
Sponsored by the JSU Department of University Communications, the event at the Capitol Inn in downtown Jackson drew a large crowd of media officials, community leaders and JSU supporters — including JSU President Carolyn W. Meyers.
Anthony was announced as MassComm director in January.
In welcoming the guests, Dr. James C. Renick, provost and senior vice president for Academic and Student Affairs, lauded Anthony as a leading media educator who has blazed trails in both academia and local news reporting.
Hayes-Anthony was professor of Communications and chair of the Department of Communications at Belhaven University since 1998. She previously served at JSU for 10 years, first as director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Mass Communications and later appointed head of the department. Under her leadership, the department received national accreditation from the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
“She has been first at this and first one at that,” Renick said. “Now she’s going to be the first person to create a School of Journalism at Jackson State.”
The goal of transforming the department to meet new challenges in the news and advertising media was announced in August.
Anthony told the crowd that her new team is coming together. She pointed to several people in the crowd who are helping to shape the reorganization, including:
— Dan Modisett, former longtime general manager of WLBT-Channel 3;
— David Hampton, former longtime editorial director of The Clarion-Ledger;
— Jeff Russell, senior partner, president, Godwin Group.
She also recognized as participating:
— Dennis Smith, former longtime news director of WLBT-Channel 3;
— Tim Reid, actor/producer, owner of documentary film company;
— Mississippi Public Radio Executive Director Ronnie Agnew, former executive editor of The Clarion-Ledger, who will head up the advisory committee, she said.
Anthony said that she intends to use all media resources of the university to work collaboratively, including: University Communications, Public Relations and Marketing, JSUTV, WJSU-FM, The Blue & White Flash student-run newspaper, and athletic media.