Greenwood publisher receives prestigious Silver Em award
The University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media honored Tim Kalich, editor and publisher of The Greenwood Commonwealth, on Wednesday with its highest award for journalism.
The school named Kalich this year’s winner of the Silver Em in recognition of his dedication to advancing local journalism in the Mississippi Delta.
“I’ve been in the crowd to support numerous winners over the years,” he said. “I’ve spent a long time in Mississippi journalism, but you know, I did not expect that I would be selected for it. That came as a nice and humbling surprise.”
Kalich joined the Commonwealth in 1982 as a reporter, later serving as sports editor, news editor and general manager before being named editor and publisher in March 1995.
The award, which dates to 1958, is given to Mississippians who have notable journalism careers or journalists who had notable careers in Mississippi. Jim Abbott, winner of the 2003 Silver Em, nominated Kalich for the honor.
“He is one of the leading voices among editorial writers in our state and across the Southeast,” Abbott said. “His award-winning editorials, appearing on the opinion page of the Commonwealth, pull no punches.”
His nomination letter also included statements from Charles Dunagin, former publisher of the McComb Enterprise-Journal and the 1987 Silver Em honoree.
“A true newspaperman, Tim publishes one of Mississippi’s finest papers,” the letter said. “The Commonwealth has set a standard for honest, objective journalism and has impacted the progress of Leflore County and Greenwood.”
Andrea Hickerson, dean of the Ole Miss journalism school, noted the enthusiasm for Kalich’s nomination.
“It was moving to see the coordinated and organized support for Tim expressed by his colleagues,” Hickerson said. “They made this an easy selection.”
The awards ceremony at The Inn at Ole Miss also included 36 journalism and integrated marketing communications students, who received excellence, dean’s and service awards for their work at the university.
Kalich says he cannot forecast the future of journalism but has an idea of the journalism world that the students will be entering.
“We’re gonna have to figure out what content people want,” he said. “We’re swimming against the tide, but my hope is that there will be a rebound in advertising and increase in daily newspapers.
“I’ve taken a lot of personal pride, and our newspaper staff has taken a lot of pride that we maintain a paper that comes out five days a week. I think there’s eight papers in the state that are still daily, and we’re the only one left in the Mississippi Delta.”
By MacKenzie Ross
