Columbia, Mo. (Feb. 21, 2008) -- A group of nationally renowned scholars and writers will help launch the centennial/dedication celebration by taking a look back at the year 1908 and its role in the history of American journalism.

Gail F. Baker	Stephen Banning	Maurine Beasley	Fred Blevens
Bonnie Brennen	Caryl Cooper	Sandy Davidson	Lora England Wegman
Tracy Everbach	Scott Fosdick	Barbara Friedman	Berkley Hudson
Janice Hume	Hans Ibold	John Merrill	Dean Mills
Earnest Perry	William H. Taft	Lee Wilkins	Betty Winfield

The symposium, "From Whence We Came to Where We're Going," will be held from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 10, at the Donald W. Reynolds Alumni Center on the MU campus. Sixteen authors of the forthcoming book, Journalism—1908: Birth of a Profession, will lead the symposium. All authors have a Missouri School of Journalism connection, either as former students and faculty or current faculty.

The year 1908 marked not only the founding of the world's first school of journalism at the University of Missouri, but also a turning point of American journalism. New technologies, advertising practices, corporate ownership trends and demand for news set the course for modern journalism, in whatever form.

Interested parties can register to attend the symposium using the official registration form for the 2008 celebration, which will be available online and in print in late April. To request a copy of the registration materials when available, please fill out the contact form at http://journalism.missouri.edu/2008/updates.html. Cost is $25 and includes the scholarly symposium sessions, a luncheon and afternoon refreshments. There will be separate pricing for other centennial/dedication celebration events and meal functions.

The School will celebrate its centennial Sept. 10-12, with the opening of the new Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute, the think tank and research operation for journalism of the 21st century. The three-day celebration will include a variety of social, educational and professional activities designed to celebrate the importance of journalism to our past and to our future. Learn more about the School's history, the event schedule and hotel information at http://journalism.missouri.edu/2008/.

For questions about the symposium, please contact Professor Betty Houchin Winfield by e-mail at or by phone at (573) 882-5639.

Journalism—1908: Birth of a Profession is being published by the University of Missouri Press and will be available for purchase this fall. The contributors to the book will be donating proceeds to a history fund at the School, which will benefit graduate student research, speaker recruitment and more.

Program