This May, Fox News anchor and University of Mississippi alumnus Shepard Smith will be teaching an intersession class for journalism majors.
The class is called Journalism 580: Multimedia Storytelling.
Smith also intends to take the students to New York, so they can get some behind-the-scenes experience at the Fox News studio. The class will mainly consist of reporting assignments.
“The students will be trying to do local stories related to the Oxford area,” Deb Wenger, assistant professor at the Meek School of Journalism and New Media, said.
“(Students will be) potentially doing stories out of New York with Oxford or Mississippi connections.”
Wenger and Smith have remained in contact since the inception of the class, and she said Smith is really looking forward to the opportunity to teach at Ole Miss.
“He doesn’t want to just stand there and lecture,” Wenger said.
“He hopes to go out with the crews and help them do some reporting and really help the students understand how journalism works in the ‘real world’ that we talk so much about.”
Smith came up with the idea to teach a class while talking with Will Norton, dean of the Meek School of Journalism and New Media.
Norton said Smith wanted remain connected to the University, and he is looking forward to having Smith back at Ole Miss.
“We intend to bring graduates of journalism at Ole Miss back to campus as often as possible,” Norton said.
“To bring back someone with Shepard’s national profile is significant. He once worked in the Student Media Center and took virtually the same classes our students are now taking. I am hoping that, long after I am gone, many who are in this class will be back to teach students 20 and 30 years from now.”
Smith, who is considered one of the most trusted news anchors in the United States, was once an Ole Miss student, though he left for a job at WJHG-TV in Panama City Beach, Fla., just two credits shy of graduation.
He later received an honorary degree from the University. The Fox Report with Shepard Smith is the top rated newscast in cable news, according to U.S. Cable News.
Students interested in taking the class must have taken journalism 375 or 376 and have maintained a minimum 3.0 GPA. Students must also fill out an application, located in the front of Farley Hall.
Applicants will have to send their transcript along with what they consider their best piece of work and an essay explaining how they see this course fitting into their overall academic plan.
According to Wenger, they are aiming for 15 students for the class.