Halford to Return for Second Year as Student Printz Editor

Eager and excited are the best words to describe Mary Margaret Halford as she prepares for her second year as editor of the Student Printz newspaper at The University of Southern Mississippi.

Halford is a senior-to-be from Vicksburg, Miss., who is majoring in public relations. She takes particular pride in the fact that the Student Printz brought home numerous awards at the Mississippi Press Association Awards banquet held last March.

“We won nine first place awards, including General Excellence for best college newspaper in the state,” said Halford. “We were recognized for our design, photography, feature stories, sports stories, news stories and advertising.”

Last year also saw Halford and her staff produce two special editions of the Printz – one during the fall to usher in football season and the other in the spring which highlighted fashion wear.

As for the 2012-13 academic year Halford said her biggest goal is to develop a stronger presence on the Internet, through the newspaper's website, Facebook and Twitter accounts.

“I want out website to offer exclusive stories, photos and video that aren't in the print edition, so we can see a steady increase in page views,” she said. “While we're focusing on the web, I'd like to maintain the strong print edition we've been able to provide this year.

“Everyone worked so hard this year to improve the paper, and I feel like we'll only continue to improve from here.”