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June ‘Out of the Blue’ documents Ricketts’ historic no-gas trip

June 7, 2013 By

The June edition of MTSU’s monthly television program, “Out of the Blue,” offers a passenger-seat view of this spring’s historic coast-to-coast trip conducted by Dr. Cliff Ricketts, MTSU’s “Davy Crockett of science.”

“Sun and Water: Driving Coast-to-Coast on Nature’s Energy” will air for the first time on broadcast TV at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, June 9, on NewsChannel5+ and other Midstate cable outlets that carry “Out of the Blue.”

You can watch the program here, too.

In the 30-minute mini-documentary, video journalist Mike Browning of MTSU’s Office of Marketing and Communications chronicled Ricketts’ five-day, 2,600-mile odyssey of driving across the United States without gasoline in March.

“This is awesome. Mike did a tremendous job,” Ricketts said. “Mike totally captured it all, from the sunrise at Tybee Island (Ga.) to the sunsets at the Pacific, and I like how it showed scenes of Americana along the way.

“This fully explained the scientific, environmental, political and economic implications why the research is important.”

In a modified Toyota Prius and 1994 Toyota Tercel powered exclusively by hydrogen gleaned from sun and water on the MTSU campus, Ricketts made headlines nationwide when he and his team successfully drove from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. University cameras documented every step of the way.

Ricketts, a veteran School of Agribusiness and Agriscience faculty member and an alternative fuels researcher, has long dreamed that people will drive their vehicles using only the natural energies of sun and water. He and his students have performed 25 years of research to determine how to make that dream a reality.

Time and again along the cross-country journey, Ricketts stopped for media interviews about his expedition and about the technology.

Writer-producer Browning created a 60-minute documentary, which has been trimmed to meet the 30-minute requirement for the television program. Jon Jackson with MTSU Audio-Visual Services served as chief editor.

Browning filmed the entire journey, transcribed video, wrote the script and performed voiceovers.

MTSU’s Mike Browning, foreground center, documents Dr. Cliff Ricketts’ historic coast-to-coast no-gas trip after the team reached the Pacific Ocean in Long Beach, Calif. From left are Rick Presley, Ricketts, Travis Owen, Terry Young and Mike Sims. (MTSU file photo by News and Media Relations)

“So much detail goes in behind it,” said Browning, who spent 25 years as a TV journalist before working for the state of Tennessee, first in media relations with the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security and now as a video producer and editor at MTSU.

Browning also covered Ricketts while working for WKRN-TV in Nashville.

“I found him (Ricketts) to be innovative,” Browning said. “I had the privilege of seeing it come to fruition. I was fortunate to be a part of a historic trip.”

You can watch the new “Out of the Blue” above anytime, or watch it on Murfreesboro cable Channel 9 Monday through Sunday at 7 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. and on NewsChannel5+ Sundays at 1:30 p.m. It’s also available on other cable outlets in middle Tennessee, so check local listings. Check the “Out of the Blue” archives, too, at www.youtube.com/user/MTSUOutOfTheBlue/videos.

— Randy Weiler (randy.weiler@mtsu.edu)

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Paulson receives honorary doctorate from Buena Vista University

June 6, 2013 By

The  incoming dean of MTSU’s College of Mass Communication, Ken Paulson, recently received an honorary doctorate degree from Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa.

Ken Paulson, center, MTSU’s incoming mass communication dean, prepares to accept an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Buena Vista University during BVU’s May 25 commencement. At left is Dr. Swasti Bhattacharyya, associate professor of religion at BVU, and at right is Jamii Claiborne, associate professor of digital media. In the background is Dr. Andrea Frantz, associate professor of digital media. (Photos courtesy of Buena Vista University)

Paulson, president and CEO of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and in Washington, D.C., received the Doctor of Humane Letters on May 25 during spring commencement for the private university, where he also served as the keynote speaker.

Paulson starts his MTSU post on July 1. He replaces Roy Moore, dean of the college since 2008, who will remain with the college as a professor.

A member of The Recording Academy and a former music journalist, Paulson is active in the Nashville music community, serving as vice chair of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, a member of the Music City Music Council convened by Mayor Karl Dean and a Leadership Music board and executive committee member.

Paulson served as editor-in-chief of USA Today from 2004 to 2009. He was on the team of journalists who founded USA Today in 1982 before moving on to manage newsrooms in Westchester County, N.Y.; Green Bay, Wis.; Bridgewater, N.J.; and at Florida Today in Brevard County, Fla.

He is now a columnist on USA Today’s board of contributors, writing about First Amendment issues and the news media.

MTSU boasts the fifth-largest mass-communication college in the nation and is the only one that features departments of recording industry, journalism and electronic media communication. It also is home to the Center for Popular Music, which maintains a large research library and archive and interprets various aspects of American vernacular music.

— Jimmy Hart (jimmy.hart@mtsu.edu)

Incoming MTSU Mass Communication Dean Ken Paulson delivers the commencement speech at Buena Vista University in Iowa on May 25.

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In the News: MTSU winner makes semifinals of National Spelling Bee

May 31, 2013 By

Sumner County middle schooler Jonathan Caldwell, winner of this spring’s Middle Tennessee 2013 Regional Spelling Bee at MTSU, made it to the second round of the national semifinals Thursday before tripping over a piece of paper.

Jonathan Caldwell of Hendersonville, Tenn., right, winner of the Middle Tennessee 2013 Regional Spelling Bee at MTSU, is joined by his mother, Holly Caldwell, for publicity photos after his 18th-round win March 20. Caldwell will be an eighth-grader at Merrol Hyde Magnet School this fall. (MTSU file photo by News and Media Relations)

Not literally, of course, but the word “pergameneous” — or parchment-like — ended the friendly, focused young man’s quest to become the nation’s top speller for 2013 at this week’s Scripps National Spelling Bee.

This image by the Associated Press of Caldwell’s reaction was quickly published across the country.

Caldwell, 13, who will be in the eighth grade this fall at Merrol Hyde Magnet School in Hendersonville, Tenn., won a trip to Washington, D.C., for himself and his family when he outspelled 43 other young Midstate residents at MTSU on March 20.

He competed against 280 students from across the country at the national bee, spelling his way to the sixth overall round with words like “persiflage.” Caldwell was one of six spellers representing Tennessee and the only Tennessean to make the semifinals.

New Yorker Arvind Mahankali, also 13, won the national bee, along with more than $30,000 in cash and other prizes, by correctly spelling “kneidel.”

You can read more about Caldwell’s regional win at http://mtsunews.com/spelling-bee-2013. His bio at the National Spelling Bee site is available here.

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New mass comm dean helped stage new Songwriters Hall of Fame

May 19, 2013 By

NASHVILLE — The incoming dean of MTSU’s College of Mass Communication, Ken Paulson, played a key role in the development of the new Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame that was unveiled Sunday.

Paulson, vice chair of the songwriters’ hall, oversaw the content development for the 10-by-50-foot interactive display within the Music City Center, the new 2.1 million-square-foot conference and event facility in downtown Nashville.

Ken Paulson

“The members of the hall made Music City possible, and it’s time they were given their due,” said Paulson, a former president of the Newseum, the Washington, D.C., museum devoted to the history of news.

The display features three handicap-accessible computers with interactive touch screens. Visitors can call up digital exhibits of each of the 188 hall inductees, along with song clips, videos, lyric sheets and photos.

The wall also includes display cases for the hall’s memorabilia, including a pair of boots from legendary singer-songwriter Johnny Cash that are on loan from Paulson.

A nearby outside area, called Songwriters Square, features inlaid stones engraved with the names of the inductees, the year they were honored and their songs. Paulson said the hall plans to stage songwriter events in the square. Also, the stairs leading into the building are engraved with the song titles of the hall of fame’s members.

The Tennessean also featured Paulson and songwriter Pat Alger, chair of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, in a blog post and video to preview the new display.

Paulson, who is president and chief executive officer of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, will assume leadership of the MTSU College of Mass Communication on July 1. He replaces Roy Moore, dean of the college since 2008, who will remain with the college as a professor.

MTSU boasts the fifth largest mass communication college in the nation and is the only one that features departments of recording industry, journalism and electronic media communication. It also is home to the Center for Popular Music, which maintains a large research library and archive and interprets various aspects of American vernacular music; as well as the Center for Innovation in Media, which houses all student media outlets as well the student music label Match Records.

A member of The Recording Academy and a former music journalist, Paulson is also a member of the Music City Music Council and a Leadership Music board and executive committee member.

— Andrew Oppmann (andrew.oppmann@mtsu.edu)

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MTSU students create media for foreign language nonprofit

May 16, 2013 By

MTSU students enrolled in Professor Clare Bratten’s Seminar in Media Issues class took their skills from the classroom to the real world this spring by creating a media campaign for the Tennessee Foreign Language Institute.

Their work came through Seminar in Media Issues: Project Real, an Experiential Learning class for students to produce media that benefits real clients in the Murfreesboro and Nashville area. Students learn theories and strategies that can be applied to creating media for these clients.

This screen shot shows the elstogo.org website created by students in Professor Clare Batten's experiential learning class for the Tennessee Foreign Language Institute.

This screen shot shows the elstogo.org website created by students in Professor Clare Batten’s experiential learning class for the Tennessee Foreign Language Institute. Click on the image above to visit the site.

Under the direction of Bratten, an associate professor in electronic media communication, the class worked in teams to produce and deliver media campaigns. For the foreign language project, Bratten’s students met with program directors for the institute’s ESL to Go program to discuss how best to reach its target audience of those interested in English as a Second Language.

The students then created web content, shot video and wrote scripts to present a comprehensive media campaign to the institute.

“The goal is to ‘enchant’ our clients as well as the intended audience,” Bratten told her students the first day of class.

Dr. Clare Bratten

Dr. Clare Bratten

With that goal in mind, the class began researching ESL to Go. The program has a simple mission: to offer English classes to those who lack transportation. This is done with a 34-foot truck that’s specially designed and engineered to be a fully functioning ESL classroom on wheels. The unit comfortably seats 10 students and includes a teacher’s workspace and cabinetry for storage, as well as amenities such as white boards and a projector.

The students quickly drafted a proposal for the campaign and patiently waited for feedback from the nonprofit.

The class created the website, www.esltogo.org, and also created media to go on the site. Part of the process was meeting with and interviewing current students of the ESL program in Nashville. The interviews will be used as video in the final media campaign.

Meeting the ESL students proved rewarding and educational for the students. Not only did the class gain valuable experience, they have learned about new cultures and the struggles associated with learning a new language in a foreign place.

Seminar in Media Issues: Project Real is for advanced media students — specializing in electronic media production, journalism, public relations. In addition to the ESL to Go program, the spring 2013 class had as its clients the Nashville Symphony and Journeys in Community of Rutherford County.

The class is comprised of students from the College of Mass Communication who learn a broad range of skills, from video editing and web design to interview and script writing.

— Jimmy Hart (jimmy.hart@mtsu.edu)

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MTSU, trade group establish Charlie Daniels Scholarship

May 6, 2013 By

NASHVILLE — Music industry majors at Middle Tennessee State University now have a chance for financial assistance that pays homage to country music legend Charlie Daniels.

MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee surprised Daniels with a presentation on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry Saturday night that formally announced the Charlie Daniels Scholarship at the Murfreesboro university.

MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee, second from right, presents country music star Charlie Daniels with a framed announcement of the Charlie Daniels Scholarship at MTSU. Joining McPhee and Daniels on stage Saturday night at the Grand Ole Opry is Pam Matthews, left, executive director of the International Entertainment Buyers Association, and MTSU student Jordan Todd, a junior recording industry major, right. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)

“On behalf of 26,000 students at Middle Tennessee State University, it is my honor and privilege to announce this scholarship that will benefit the students in our recording industry management program,” McPhee said, adding that the scholarship “honors one of the outstanding musicians” in the music industry.

Starting in fall 2014, a $1,000 scholarship will be awarded each year to a student in the MTSU College of Mass Communication’s Department of Recording Industry.

Eligible students must major in recording industry, songwriting, audio engineering or music business.

The International Entertainment Buyers Association established the MTSU scholarship in honor of Daniels with a $25,000 endowment. The IEBA is a Nashville-based, nonprofit trade organization for live entertainment industry professionals.

“Charlie Daniels spends his life giving, so it’s an honor to have the opportunity to give on his behalf,” said IEBA Executive Director Pam Matthews. “This scholarship helps ensure his legacy will continue through the next generation of music business leaders.”

“I am so honored,” said Daniels, who has lectured at MTSU in the past. “It was such a surprise. I have the greatest respect for higher education. To be a part of somebody getting their education, especially in that industry … is special to me.”

Making the Opry presentation possible was MTSU alumnus Pete Fisher, vice president and general manager of the Grand Ole Opry.

Joining McPhee and Daniels on stage for the presentation was MTSU student Jordan Todd, a junior recording industry major from White Oak, Texas.

“MTSU is such a great school. I think it’s awesome for students to have an opportunity to get scholarships like this, and having his name on the scholarship is really special,” Todd said.

“Having that financial aid is amazing because it allows students to focus on what they’re in school for.”

Daniels has been honored by MTSU before. In 2009, MTSU presented him with the Joe M. Rodgers Spirit of America Award, an honor presented to a businessperson who has demonstrated the best of the spirit of America through significant contributions in government, education and/or civic and charitable organizations.

— Jimmy Hart (jimmy.hart@mtsu.edu)

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MTSU, partners produce Metro student video awards show

May 3, 2013 By

NASHVILLE — The Academy of Health Science and Law at McGavock High School won the Best in Show at the second annual Academies of Nashville Video Awards Show sponsored by Middle Tennessee State University, the Nashville Film Festival and the Metro Nashville Public Schools.

 

MTSU's Billy Pittard and Metro Nashville Public Schools administrator Dr. Chaney Mosley present the Best In Show check for $1,000 to the Academy of Health Science and Law at McGavock. (Left to right): Mosley; Elise Taylor, student at McGavock; Barclay Randall, broadcasting teacher at McGavock; Robert Bagwell, student at McGavock; DeLaney Williams, student at McGavock,; and Pittard, chair of MTSU's Department of Electronic Media Communications.(MTSU photos by J. Intintoli)

MTSU’s Billy Pittard and Metro Nashville Public Schools administrator Dr. Chaney Mosley present the Best in Show check for $1,000 to the Academy of Health Science and Law at McGavock. Left to right are Mosley; Elise Taylor, a student at McGavock; Barclay Randall, broadcasting teacher at McGavock; Robert Bagwell, student at McGavock; DeLaney Williams, a student at McGavock,; and Pittard, chair of MTSU’s Department of Electronic Media Communication. (MTSU photos by J. Intintoli)

The winning videos were a result of a districtwide competition created to tell the stories of the Academies of Nashville offerings within the 12 Metro Nashville high schools. The awards show was held April 22 at the Regal Green Hills Cinema.

Co-producers Kelsey Lebechuck (back row) and Matt Binford (foreground front row), were two of 40 undergraduates in the Electronic Media Communications department from MTSU who produced the AON Awards Show on April 22.

Co-producers Kelsey Lebechuck, shown in the back row, and Colby Graham, shown in the foreground, were two of 40 undergraduates in MTSU’s Department of Electronic Media Communication who worked on the Academies of Nashville Video Awards Show on April 22.

Billy Pittard, chair of MTSU's Electronic Media Communications department, welcomes the crowd at the second annual Academies of Nashville Video Awards Show at Regal Cinema in Green Hills.

MTSU EMC department chair Billy Pittard welcomes the crowd at the second annual Academies of Nashville Video Awards Show at Regal Green Hills Cinema.

This is the second year MTSU has agreed to be the title sponsor of the show.

“We were delighted to again be part of the Academies of Nashville Video Awards Show,” said Dr. Sidney A. McPhee, president of MTSU. “This show unites the talented students from Metro Schools with our exceptional students from the Department of Electronic Media Communication.”

MTSU students also produced the awards show using the university’s state-of-the-art $1.2 million mobile production truck. There were 40 students from Metro Schools and MTSU working the hourlong production. Kelsey Lebechuck and Matt Binford, EMC undergraduate students at MTSU, co-produced the show.

Other winning entries included:

• Best Arts, Media, and Communication: Academy of Design and Technology at Hunters Lane.

• Best Business, Marketing, and Information Technology: USCCU Academy of Business and Finance/ Gaylord Entertainment Academy of Hospitality at McGavock.

• Best Engineering, Manufacturing, and Industrial Technology: Academy of Public Service at Whites Creek.

• Best Health and Public Service: Academy of Health and Human Service at Hunters Lane.

• Best Hospitality and Tourism: Academy of Hospitality at Hunters Lane.

• Best Freshman Video: McGavock High School Freshman Academy.

• Best Creativity in Presentation: Academy of Architecture and Construction at Cane Ridge.

• Best Video Personality: Academy of Entertainment Communication at Pearl-Cohn Entertainment Magnet High School.

• Best Hands-On Learning: Academy of Health Science and Law at McGavock.

• Best Script: Academy of International Business and Communication at Hillsboro.

• Best Content: CMT Academy of Digital Design and Communication at McGavock.

• Community Vote: Academy of Science and Engineering at Stratford STEM Magnet High School.

— Doug Williams (doug.williams@mtsu.edu)

 

Co-host Kayla Knolenburg, MTSU senior, and Gerald Harris, senior at Pearl-Cohn Entertainment Magnet, prepare to recognize one of the 12 winners at the AON Awards Show ceremony on April 22 at Regal Cinema in Green Hills.

Co-host Kayla Knolenburg, MTSU senior, and Gerald Harris, a senior at Pearl-Cohn Entertainment Magnet, prepare to recognize one of the 12 winners at the AON Awards Show.

Co-host Jordan Hall, MTSU senior, and Wan Rashid, sophomore at Glencliff, recognize one of the 12 winners at the AON Awards Show ceremony on April 22 at Regal Cinema in Green Hills.

Co-host Jordan Hall, an MTSU senior, and Wan Rashid, a sophomore at Glencliff, recognize one of the 12 winners at the AON Awards Show ceremony.

 

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MTSU inducts 6 into Tennessee Journalism Hall of Fame (video)

April 29, 2013 By

Representing nearly three centuries of combined journalistic excellence, the first members of the Tennessee Journalism Hall of Fame proudly stood before family, friends and colleagues at MTSU April 26 to encourage the next generation of media professionals.

The hall’s inaugural inductees include Chris Clark, retired chief news anchor for WTVF-TV NewsChannel 5; Anne Holt, a 30-year veteran and three-time Emmy winner at WKRN-TV News 2; the late Dan Miller, longtime chief news anchor and multiple Emmy Award winner at Nashville’s WSMV-TV Channel 4; John Seigenthaler, chairman emeritus of The Tennessean and founding editorial director of USA Today; Dean Stone, editor of The Daily Times in Maryville and former president of the Tennessee Associated Press Managing Editors; and William Bryant “Bill” Williams Jr., publisher emeritus of the Paris (Tenn.) Post-Intelligencer. You can watch an excerpt of the ceremony and their remarks below.

For more details on the inductees and the new Tennessee Journalism Hall of Fame, visit mtsunews.com/journalism-hall-of-fame-inaugural-class.

 

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Hall of Fame honorees ‘put Volunteer State journalism on map’

April 26, 2013 By

Representing nearly three centuries of combined journalistic excellence, the first members of the Tennessee Journalism Hall of Fame proudly stood before family, friends and colleagues at MTSU today to encourage the next generation of media professionals.

“This is the first all-inclusive hall of fame in the state to showcase talented media professionals in all areas,” John Hood, MTSU director of governmental and community affairs, told the crowd assembled inside Murphy Center for the ceremony.

The first members of the Tennessee Journalism Hall of Fame gather for a photo after an April 26 ceremony in MTSU’s Murphy Center celebrating their accomplishments. From left are inductees John Seigethaler, Chris Clark, Karen Miller representing her late husband Dan Miller, Dean Stone, Bill Williams Jr. and Anne Holt. The new Hall of Fame will be housed in the Center for Innovation in Media inside the Bragg Mass Communication Building at MTSU. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)

“These people all put Volunteer State journalism on the world map of credibility. We also appreciate that the hall of fame is at MTSU, because its College of Mass Communication is recognized globally for producing all kinds of media professionals.”

The hall’s inaugural inductees include:

  • Chris Clark, retired chief news anchor for WTVF-TV NewsChannel 5 in Nashville, who produced multiple global documentaries and played a strategic role in convincing the Tennessee Supreme Court to allow cameras in courtrooms. Clark, the longest tenured news anchor in Tennessee with his 41-year stint at WTVF, is currently an MTSU mass communication instructor.
  • Anne Holt, who is a 30-year veteran and three-time Emmy Award winner at WKRN-TV News 2 in Nashville. Among her numerous accolades, she is a recipient of the coveted George Foster Peabody Award for investigative reporting and the Distinguished Service Award from the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters.
  • The late Dan Miller, the longtime chief news anchor at Nashville’s WSMV-TV Channel 4, where he was once named the “Most Popular News Anchor in America” and was voted Nashville’s “Best News Anchor” multiple times. A winner of multiple Emmy Awards, Miller died in 2009.
  • John Seigenthaler, who is chairman emeritus of The Tennessean in Nashville, founding editorial director of USA Today and founder of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University as well as MTSU’s Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies.
  • Dean Stone, who is editor of The Daily Times in Maryville as well as a featured columnist. He served multiple terms as president of the Tennessee Associated Press Managing Editors, now known as the Tennessee Associated Press Media Editors.
  • William Bryant “Bill” Williams Jr., a third-generation community newspaper publisher, who is publisher emeritus of the Paris (Tenn.) Post-Intelligencer, a newspaper that has served the Henry County community since 1866.

Each of the inductees had words of thanks for their supporters as well as encouragement for the students gathered for their own annual awards ceremony.

Tenn Journalism Hall of Fame logo

Holt reminded the young people of their “obligation” to ensure the accuracy of their news stories. Miller’s wife, Karen, recalled the “flurry of information to be sifted through” in the newsroom where her husband worked, often with their young daughter at his feet under his anchor desk, “working” alongside her dad.

Seigenthaler, who started in 1948 as a copyboy in the newsroom of the newspaper he’d later lead, noted the dedication of the media industry people around him, saying, “For most of my professional life, I’ve interacted with all the people up here in this inaugural class with me.”

Stone, who continues working at his newspaper at age 88 and has founded and contributed to numerous service organizations in Blount County, said that his journalism work was a part of his determination to be of service to the community. And Williams, who has 28 members of his extended family working in some form of media outlet or printing and still serves as the paper’s chief editorial writer, joked that he has a granddaughter in college radio to continue the family tradition.

Dan Miller

The new Tennessee Journalism Hall of Fame at MTSU, which was officially unveiled in October 2012 after four years of planning, will be housed at the John Bragg Mass Communication Building inside the Center for Innovation in Media.

The hall was the brainchild of Hooper Penuel, a retired lieutenant colonel and public information officer for the Tennessee National Guard, and newspaper columnist Dan Whittle.

“It was an idea born about four years ago of a backyard visit,” Hood explained to the crowd, “to include all aspects of modern journalism, not only print, radio and TV but electronic media and public relations in Tennessee.”

MTSU journalism professor Larry Burriss joined the pair in their efforts, becoming president of the hall’s board of directors with Whittle as vice president and Penuel as secretary/treasurer.

After the special Hall of Fame induction, the College of Mass Communication recognized another group of MTSU alumni and friends as members of its “Wall of Fame.”

The Wall of Fame began in 2000 as a way to both honor successful mass-communication graduates and inspire current students to continue working toward their goals. Each year, each of the college’s departments solicits nominees from faculty, chooses an honoree and submits his or her name to the dean. The inductees are added to the Wall of Fame roster at the college’s annual Awards Day for students.

The 2013 Mass Communication Wall of Fame inductees bring the total membership to 75. They are:

  • Dr. Harold Baldwin, an MTSU professor emeritus of photography and the latest “Friend of the College,” who built and curated the renowned photo gallery on campus that now bears his name and will reopen soon in a revamped site.
  • MTSU alumnus Garry Hood (B.S. ’77), a respected TV production executive who has served as head stage manager for more than 1,000 hours of the finest network television specials, including Olympic opening and closing ceremonies, presidential inaugurals, the Kennedy Center Honors, Super Bowl halftime shows as well as the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, Tonys and other award shows, commercials, music videos and films.
  • Alumnus Keith Ryan Cartwright (B.S. ’01), an award-winning journalist since his college days at Sidelines, the student newspaper, enjoyed a successful freelance writing and television production career before becoming the senior writer for Professional Bull Riders Inc. He now manages online content for the organization’s website and helps produce televised bull-riding events that draw more than 100 million viewers each year.
  • Alumnus Gary Overton (B.S. ’84), chairman and CEO of Sony Music Nashville and the former longtime executive vice president of EMI Music Publishing’s Nashville division. Overton, who served as chair of the Country Music Association in 2012 and is a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, also was superstar Alan Jackson’s personal manager and served as head of A&R for BNA Entertainment and vice president of Warner/Chappell Music.
  • The late Dr. Thomas “Tom” Hutchison, a longtime member of MTSU’s Department of Recording Industry who made significant contributions to MTSU’s Music Business Program, including serving as coordinator of the Music Business Internship Program and the Executive Online Music Business Program. He also was instrumental in starting the MTSU/ASCAP Songwriting Degree and in bringing the NARAS-sponsored Grammy University Network to MTSU, which was one of the first colleges to adopt the program. Hutchison was on leave from MTSU to serve as professor of marketing and director of the School of Business and Management at Husson University in Bangor, Maine, as well as executive director of academic affairs for Husson’s College of Business, when he died unexpectedly in May 2012.

The College of Mass Communication capped today’s ceremony by honoring more than 100 students in the Department of Electronic Media Communication, School of Journalism, Department of Recording Industry and graduate studies program for their scholarship and professional accomplishments.

“This all has been an example to our students that professionalism and talent can be recognized and rewarded,” Mass Communication Dean Roy Moore said.

“This year we are fortunate to be presenting our students with more than $35,000 in scholarships and awards, all funded through private donations.”

For more information about the Tennessee Journalism Hall of Fame, visit www.tnjournalismhof.org. For more information about MTSU’s College of MassCommunication, visit www.mtsu.edu/masscomm. You also can watch an excerpt from the Hall of Fame ceremony below.

 

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MTSU selects former USA Today editor as mass comm dean

April 23, 2013 By

Ken Paulson, a lawyer who combined his passions for journalism, free expression and popular music to become a national advocate for the First Amendment, will be the next dean of the College of Mass Communication at Middle Tennessee State University, officials announced today.

Paulson, president and chief executive officer of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville and at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., will assume leadership of the college on July 1.

He replaces Roy Moore, dean of the college since 2008, who will remain with the college as a professor.

Ken Paulson

Paulson served as editor-in-chief of USA Today from 2004 to 2009.  He was on the team of journalists who founded USA Today in 1982 before moving on to manage newsrooms in Westchester County, N.Y.; Green Bay, Wis.; Bridgewater, N.J.; and at Florida Today in Brevard County, Fla.

He is now a columnist on USA Today’s board of contributors, writing about First Amendment issues and the news media.

A member of The Recording Academy and a former music journalist, Paulson is active in the Nashville music community, serving as vice chair of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame; a member of the Music City Music Council, convened by Mayor Karl Dean; and a Leadership Music board and executive committee member.

Paulson also was the host of the Emmy-honored television program “Speaking Freely,” seen in more than 60 PBS markets nationwide over five seasons, and the author of “Freedom Sings,” a multimedia stage show celebrating the First Amendment that continues to tour the nation’s campuses.

MTSU boasts the fifth-largest mass-communication college in the nation and is the only one that features departments of recording industry, journalism and electronic media communication. It also is home to the Center for Popular Music, which maintains a large research library and archive and interprets various aspects of American vernacular music.

MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee said Paulson’s unique blend of national media leadership, scholarship in the First Amendment and music background will strengthen the college and move it to the next level.

“We were impressed by the breadth of Ken’s experience,” McPhee said. “He has led a national news organization, traveled the country with a rock ‘n’ roll band to tout the First Amendment and hosted a national television program. His career has touched all of our college’s disciplines.”

Paulson said he was honored to be selected as dean and that the college “has an impressive faculty, a clear commitment to innovation and an unrivaled curriculum in media education.”

“The College of Mass Communication is a singular institution, bringing the creative forces behind journalism, broadcast and digital communications and the music industry under a single roof,” Paulson said. “That allows for unprecedented collaboration and synergy, and a multifaceted media education.”

University Provost Brad Bartel, MTSU’s chief academic officer, said Paulson would help the college forge stronger ties with media organizations and industry foundations.

The provost said the university would also benefit from his close rapport with the Nashville music industry.

“Ken Paulson certainly will raise the bar for the college in relevance to content providers and research to help those industries discover and develop solutions and innovation for the 21st century,” Bartel said.

Paulson also referenced the “technological and cultural changes” buffeting the music and news industries, which have prompted some to “reduce resources, rather than expand horizons.”

“There’s an opportunity for innovative communication colleges to craft new and bold approaches, fueling these professions with fresh perspectives and insights —and graduates with the skills to maximize both,” he said.

Paulson led the First Amendment Center, an arm of the Freedom Forum, from 1997 to 2004. After his stint at USA Today, he served as president of the Newseum, the interactive museum of news and journalism opened by the Freedom Forum in Washington, D.C., from 2009 to 2010.

He is also founder of 1 for All, an unprecedented national campaign on behalf of the First Amendment, launched July 1, 2010, with support from more than 1,100 news, arts and religious organizations.

Paulson returned to the First Amendment Center in 2010. As dean of the MTSU College of Mass Communication, he will continue to write, speak and consult with the center on free expression issues.

For 12 years, Paulson was a regular guest lecturer at the American Press Institute, teaming with First Amendment Center founder John Seigenthaler to speak to more than 5,000 journalists about First Amendment issues.

He was honored with the API Lifetime Service Award, and in 2010 and 2011, he served as chair of the PBS Editorial Standards Review Committee.

He is past president of the American Society of News Editors, the nation’s largest organization of news media leaders.

In 2007, Paulson was named fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists, “the highest honor SPJ bestows upon a journalist for extraordinary contributions to the profession.” In 2008, he received the Robert S. Abbott Memorial Award for Meritorious Service in Mass Communications from the Southern Regional Press Institute.

Paulson is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law and the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He also has served as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University and the Vanderbilt Law School. In 2008, he received an honorary doctorate in humane letters from American University.

He has also been elected to the Illini Publishing Hall of Fame at the University of Illinois and in October 2012, he received the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism.

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