Mississippi Today Sports Columnist Speaks to Rotary Club of North Jackson
Rick Cleveland, Sports Columnist with “Mississippi Today” spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackso at the club’s January 8, 2019 meeting. Mr. Cleveland discussed his career, which started with the "Hattiesburg American" in 1979 at age 13, including changes in the journalism profession and some highlights of his career, which includes induction into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and stints as a Sports Reporter and Sports Editor of the Jackson “Clarion-Ledger”. He said that print journalism has severely declined since he began his career and that he sees the future in community newspapers such as Jackson’s “Northside Sun” and online newspapers. According to Mr. Cleveland, his staff at the “Clarion-Ledger” when he was Sports Editor consisted of 5 sports reporters. Today there is one sports reporter reflecting the change in print journalism.
Mr. Cleveland also relayed personal stories from his career including an interview with Alabama Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant when he was a young reporter. He is shown in the following photos during his presentation and following it (left) with club Vice President Greg Campbell (center) and Rotarian Mark Kennedy (right) who introduced him. We thank Mr. Cleveland for his commitment to Mississippi sports, to our state, and for his presentation to our club. 
