Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin’s exit caused hard feelings around the university and the state of Mississippi. Terry Mattingly, a member of the Overby Center panel of experts, comments on a recent article by Baptist Press that uses Kiffin’s leaving for advice to pastors. 

Jared Schroeder, an associate professor at the Missouri School of Journalism, discusses some lawmakers have proposed bills to support local journalism. He and Zivile Raskauskaite, a doctoral candidate, created the new resource that tracks legislative efforts to support local journalism, which is hosted by the Reynolds Journalism Institute.

Does the First Amendment preclude local governments from putting up Christmas decorations, including the depictions of the Nativity? Not if the “Reindeer Rule” is followed. The rule helps protect the First Amendment separation of church and state. David Callaway, former religious freedom specialist of the Freedom Forum, explores the origins of the “Reindeer Rule” and what it means.

Black gospel music and its free speech implications will be the focus of a program by the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics. “Free Speech, Freedom Songs and the Music of Liberation” will be presented in the Overby Center auditorium on Feb. 25 as a part of Black History Month. 

R.J. Morgan, instructional associate professor in the School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi and director of the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association, discusses the annual Fall Statewide Convention at the University of Southern Mississippi. MSPA has a new partnership with Press Forward Mississippi which aims to strengthen local media.