Nancy McKenzie Dupont came to the University of Mississippi after spending 17 years as a broadcast journalist. She was an anchor, reporter, producer and manager in markets from Phoenix, Ariz., to Charlotte, N.C. Her last job in the industry was executive producer and acting news director at WDSU-TV in New Orleans. Adviser to The Daily Mississippian’s online edition, Nancy also serves as a leader in the Radio-Television Journalism division of the AEJMC; she is also a member of the Broadcast Education Association. Dr. Dupont earned her Ph.D. in Mass Communications from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1997, and she and her husband, both Hurrricane Katrina survivors, now make their home in Oxford.
How do you keep your students excited about working in the field of communications in light of shrinking job opportunities?
While it’s true opportunities are shrinking in the traditional media, there are all kinds of other opportunities for young people who know how to effectively communicate. My students aren’t thinking only of newspapers, magazines, and broadcasting stations anymore. They’re figuring out how to be employed in new ways. In many ways, they keep me up-to-date about the opportunities.
What changes do journalism and mass communication programs need to make in order to stay relevant today?
I believe every journalism class must emphasize that form of communication which will last forever: storytelling. The difference now is that professors must introduce students to the many different ways a story can be told. Could this go on the Internet? Will this story only work on TV? Is a print format the only way this could be told effectively? There are many new questions, and many new answers.
If you could save one journalism and mass communication course from extinction, what would it be and why?
History should be saved. We don’t do enough of it as it is. Students need to understand that the business of journalism is ever-changing. History will teach them that.
If you could offer a piece of advice to both your fellow educators and media professionals in the field, what would it be?
We should all roll with the punches.