MSU鈥檚 Strout receives national social media grant
Contact: Sasha Steinberg
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜 Mississippi State communication faculty member has been selected to participate in a national program where he will learn firsthand about the transformation of news and information delivery in a digital media world.
As one of six recipients of a Scripps Howard Foundation Visiting Professor in Social Media Program grant, associate professor Lawrence N. 鈥淟arry鈥 Strout will embark on an all-expenses paid trip this August to WCPO-TV/WCPO.com.
While working two 40-hour weeks at the Cincinnati, Ohio-based news station, Strout will gain insight on ways media outlets are using social media to communicate across multiple platforms.
Having spent 14 years in commercial and public broadcasting before entering academia, Strout said he is looking forward to 鈥渢he fun of daily news journalism鈥 during his experience.
鈥淟ike I tell students headed out to an internship or their first job, how they conduct themselves will reflect on Mississippi State and how future students may be looked at when they apply for similar positions,鈥 said Strout, who is in his ninth year at the university.
鈥淭his may be the first time anyone at WCPO-TV has met or interacted with an 草榴社区faculty member, so it is important to leave a positive impression by working hard,鈥 added the Florida State University mass communication/media history doctoral graduate.
After returning to Mississippi State, Strout said he plans to share insight about the social media duties of news and sports anchors and reporters, meteorologists and other communication professionals.
鈥淚n the news writing courses, good writing is good writing; it never goes out of style,鈥 Strout said. 鈥淪ocial media, however, has changed the way newsrooms operate, and this grant allows me to immerse myself into WCPO-TV/WCPO.com鈥檚 culture and pass along what I learn to our students.鈥
Additionally, the grant covers expenses for a WCPO-TV and WCPO.com representative to make a three- to five-day visit to the Starkville campus during the upcoming academic year.
Strout said he envisions the visiting professional speaking to the communication department鈥檚 practicum and broadcast performance students, as well as staff of the university鈥檚 Reflector student newspaper.
Along with the other grant recipients, Strout is a member of the Association of Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication, or AEJMC.
In addition to Mississippi State, this year鈥檚 grant recipients represent Arkansas State and Iowa State universities, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, University of Southern California, and University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. They will be completing their two-week social media experiences in Illinois, South Carolina, Texas and Washington, D.C.
Originally from Gardner, Massachusetts, Strout currently teaches electronic media newswriting and mass media law courses for one of Mississippi State鈥檚 largest academic units.
His research interests include 20th century media history, community newspapers and public broadcasting.
Published in 1999, Strout鈥檚 first book was 鈥淐overing McCarthyism: How the Christian Science Monitor Handled Joseph R. McCarthy, 1950-1954鈥 (Greenwood Press). He also is the author of the book 鈥淧ass Christian and the Gazebo Gazette: A Gulf Community鈥檚 Post-Katrina Triumph鈥 (The History Press, 2015), as well as numerous scholarly works. For more biographical information, visit .
Part of the College of Arts and Sciences, MSU鈥檚 communication department enrolls more than 600 majors and includes nearly 30 full-time faculty members. It offers a bachelor of arts, with concentrations in broadcasting, communication studies, journalism, public relations and theatre. For more, visit .
草榴社区is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .