Reception welcomes Sid and Leilani Salter
Mississippi State's new journalist-in-residence, Sid Salter, along with his wife, Starkville Daily News managing editor Leilani Salter, were welcomed during a MSU Libraries reception in the John Grisham Room last Monday [April 25].
A 24-year veteran in Mississippi journalism, Leilani Salter has worked as a writer, editor, photographer, newsroom manager and page designer. She joined The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson in 2001 as public affairs manager and, additionally, has worked as editor and director of the Madison County Herald, Rankin Ledger, Clinton News, Northeast Ledger, Hinds Ledger, and as director of the society publication VIP Jackson Magazine.
A longtime member of the Mississippi Press Association, she was among the 2003 Best of Gannett winners, and she was the recipient of Gannett's Chairman's Award in 2006.
MSU's 2004 National Alumnus of the Year, Sid Salter formerly held the positions of publisher and editor of the Scott County Times in Forest, perspective editor for The Clarion-Ledger, and talk radio host of SuperTalk Mississippi's "On Deadline with Sid Salter."
Salter has also had a successful 10-year run as a television commentator with Meridian's ABC affiliate, WTOK-TV, and as a guest commentator for Mississippi Public Broadcasting television and radio broadcasts. He is a two-time winner of the Mississippi Press Association's premier annual honor, the J. Oliver Emmerich Award; a member of the MPA's hall of fame; a past MPA president; and the 2004 recipient of the James Stubbs Award for volunteer service to Mississippi's mentally ill, chemically dependent and developmentally disabled for his work championing the construction of regional crisis mental health centers in the state.
Under the guidance of MSU Dean of Libraries Frances Coleman, Salter is responsible for strengthening the Libraries' existing special collections and directing the university's Morris W.H. (Bill) Collins Speaker Series, a series named for the first executive director of MSU's John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development and created to expand discussion of major political, social and governmental issues.
For more information on MSU Libraries and to follow Sid Salter's blog, please visit http://blogs.library.msstate.edu/sidsalter/.
