Press Packets/Media Requests
The U.S. Commission on Presidential Debates estimated that three thousand journalists would arrive on campus in the week prior to the debate. Anticipating the possibility that a number of these reporters might either seek research assistance from the archives for background information or include the exhibit in a feature story, Special Collections prepared an Archives Press Packet for distribution as a hard copy at its Front Desk and as a digital file for conveyance as an e-mail attachment.
The Archives Press Packet contained:
one-page Archives Fact Sheet with general information about Special Collections copy of the flyer on the library’s debate-related activities Quick Subject Guide for Media which included a suggested reading list on the university & race relations, another reading list on Mississippi politics, and a list of archival collections with a focus on the university & race relations. Quick Guide for Requesting Images which contained a list of photograph collections of the university & race relations for which Special Collections had copyright approval as well as a list of use fees for various media formats, a description of payment methods, and a request form. Business cards for Head of Special Collections Jennifer Ford, Political Papers Archivist Leigh McWhite, and Visual Curator Pamela Williamson.
Since early stories in the press on the university hosting the first 2008 presidential debate indicated that journalists would concentrate in part on institution’s history of race relations, Special Collections prepared the packet with an emphasis on this subject.
Visual Curator Pamela Williamson also created a reference binder for the Special Collections Front Desk which contains finding aids for the photograph collections listed in the Archives Press Packet as well as scanned images of all the photographs.
Special Collections handled six requests for research assistance from debate media through September 26th.
Related Materials
A variety of materials in or associated with the Archives Press Packets