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MSU faculty, students earn national honors at Broadcast Education Association Festival

Mississippi State University faculty and students earned multiple national honors at the Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts this spring, one of the premier competitions for student and faculty media work, highlighting excellence in film, scriptwriting, audio and broadcast production.

Image Alternative Text: MSU students pictured with certificates after winning 28 awards at the Southeast Journalism Conference.

MSU Journalists earn 28 awards at Southeast Journalism Conference

Mississippi State University student journalists earned 28 awards at the 2026 Southeast Journalism Conference earlier this semester, securing high-ranking placements in more than two dozen categories and demonstrating excellence across student media platforms.

Image Alternative Text: Photo of student winners from left, Wesley Webb, senior political science major from Oxford, Brooklin Gall, senior communication from Hattiesburg; Gracelyn Johnson, sophomore communication major from Amory; Ashton Stanley, senior professional meteorology major from Biloxi; and MSU Radio Station Manager, 91.1 The Junction, Becca Thorn represent MSU at this month’s Mississippi Association of Broadcasters awards ceremony.

Students break MSU communication awards record at MAB

Students representing Mississippi State University’s Department of Communication, Media and Theatre, along with MSU’s radio station WMSV-FM 91.1 The Junction, earned more than two dozen student and professional honors at the Mississippi Association of Broadcasters Annual Awards this month, pushing the department past its previous record and to a new high of 102 awards during the academic year.

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Our People: Gil Carter

No matter what, Gil Carter was always going to find a career in education.“When people like politics, there’s the old saying that they have been ‘bitten by the bug.’ I was bitten at a young age,” laughed Carter, an assistant professor in Mississippi State University’s Department of Communication, Media and Theatre.

Image Alternative Text: Photo of Wayne and Jo Durst sitting in the chairs in the MSU McComas Hall Theater

Mississippi Theatre Association honors CMT legacies with named awards

The Mississippi Theatre Association renamed two of its annual DramaFest awards in honor of longtime Mississippi State faculty members Wayne “Dur” Durst and Betty “Jo” Durst, recognizing their decades of service and lasting impact on theater education in Mississippi.

Image Alternative Text: Kate Myers Headshot and Aubrey Carter Headshot

CMT students rake in broadcasting awards, propel department to Top 10 national ranking

Two Mississippi State University students in the Department of Communication, Media and Theatre have earned national placement in the Heart Journalism Awards program, one of the most prestigious competitions in collegiate journalism. The combined placements have secured a Top 10 spot for MSU in the national broadcast competition.

Image Alternative Text: Theatre MSU Poster advertising Fahrenheit 451

Theatre MSU brings the heat, razor-sharp wit to 2026 season

Mississippi State University’s Theatre MSU continues its 2025-2026 season this month with adaptations of “Fahrenheit 451” and “Sweeney Todd.” Spring shows begin Feb. 18-22 with the production of Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451.”

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Brown earns PRSA outstanding educator award

Mississippi State’s Karyn Brown is the recipient of the Alabama Public Relations Society of America’s Outstanding Educator Award, one of the organization’s highest honors recognizing excellence and influence in public relations education.

Image Alternative Text: Aubrey Carter Headshot

Communication student earns top 10 national placement in Hearst awards

A student in the Department of Communication, Media and Theatre has earned national recognition in the prestigious Hearst Journalism Awards, often described as the “NCAA tournament of college journalism,” held this past fall. Aubrey Carter, a 2025 MSU graduate and current CMT graduate student, placed ninth nationally in the Hearst TV Feature Competition, one of the program’s most competitive categories.

Image Alternative Text: Photo of PR competition winners, left to right, Caroline Flint, Parker Acosta, Alice Ann Haab, and Maggie Heath

Pursuing PR Perfection: CMT students capture first place at regional competition

Mississippi State public relations students are proving their skills on a regional stage, earning first place in a competitive challenge and several top awards at the recent Southern Public Relations Federation, or SPRF, Annual Conference in Bossier City, Louisiana.

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Brown reelected to arts and sciences national board

Karyn Brown, a longtime Mississippi State educator and assistant dean for communication and media in the College of Arts and Sciences, now is serving a prestigious second term on the Board of Directors for the national Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences. CCAS board members are elected by the full membership during their annual meeting held this fall in St. Louis, Missouri.

Image Alternative Text: Tafada Wright headshot

CMT major among three MSU Rhodes Scholarship finalists

Three Mississippi State students are finalists for the prestigious international Rhodes Scholarship. The finalists are advancing to the last round of interviews Nov. 12-15 in consideration for one of the world’s highest academic honors. Tafada Wright, a senior communication major concentrating in broadcast and digital journalism from Spanish Town, Jamaica, interviews in Kingston, Jamaica.

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Theatre MSU’s ‘Unified Theatre’ project showcases ACCESS student talent

Mississippi State’s Theatre MSU is partnering with the university’s ACCESS Program to launch a “Unified Theatre” project celebrating student creativity in a collaborative performance of “Jack and the Beanstalk.” Unified Theatre is a nationwide program that unites students from all backgrounds and learning styles to create and perform productions together.

Image Alternative Text: Holli Seitz speaks with a potential communication graduate student

MSU’s Seitz to headline renewed Grisham Lecture Series

Mississippi State is bringing back the Grisham Lecture Series, a signature event showcasing its most distinguished faculty, next month after a five-year hiatus. Holli Seitz, associate professor of communication, is headlining the series’ first event on Nov. 4 at 3 p.m. in Mitchell Memorial Library’s John Grisham Room.

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Carter publishes narrative analysis

Gil Carter, an assistant professor in Communication & Media Studies, recently published an article in the Journal of the Speech and Theatre Association of Missouri titled "Who was Robin Bush? A Narrative Analysis of How a Presidential Family Experienced Her Death." Carter examines how three versions of Bush’s story form a cohesive narrative that shaped the Bush family’s public and private communication as they rose in American politics.

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