Clarion-Ledger Editor Sam Hall Addresses MC Communication Students

Sam Hall

Sam R. Hall oversees a talented group of reporters, photographers and other news staffers facing daily deadlines as executive editor of “The Clarion-Ledger.”

Mississippi College communication students should learn some valuable lessons when Hall delivers the Purser Hewitt Journalism Lectures on the Clinton campus.

The MC Department of Communication invited the Mississippi native to be the keynote speaker in the series February 29 and March 1. Hall plans to talk to all journalism classes, meet with Mississippi “Collegian” staff and attend a luncheon with students Tuesday.

The series is named for Hewitt, a “Clarion-Ledger” editor who led the state’s biggest newspaper several decades ago.

A native of Tupelo, Hall writes a weekly political column for the “Clarion-Ledger” and runs the Daily Ledes blog focusing on the day’s top news stories. The Millsaps College graduate served as editor and publisher of newspapers in Mississippi and Alabama. He also spent five years in public relations and political consulting. Hall joined the “CL” staff in April 2012.

The son of a teacher, Hall finds the journalism profession, like the education world, can be very rewarding.

“Journalism can be and should be much more than a career,” Hall said. “It should be a passion and calling in your life.”

Despite constant changes for the newspaper industry, including a revolution in technology, Hall says some things will never change. “We are still dedicated to telling stories fairly and completely,” he said. “We fight to be a trusted source of facts and the connective tissue of the communities we serve.”

Sam and his wife, Tara, the chair of the English Department at Hartfield Academy in Flowood, are the parents of three children. Sam serves as a deacon at Lakeside Presbyterian Church, where Tara sings in the choir.

The Brandon resident joins a number of CL luminaries invited to Mississippi College as part of the Hewitt Lecture Series in recent years. They include award-winning investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell and former CL executive editor Ronnie Agnew, executive director of Mississippi Public Broadcasting.

For more information on the Hewitt Journalism Lecture Series, contact MC communication professor Tim Nicholas at 601-925-3462 or tnichola@mc.edu