By Katie Clary
News Assistant
Next year brings a changing of the guard for Pepperdine’s journalists. Starting August 1, telecommunications professor Dr. Michael Murrie will don the title “Director of Student Journalism” as Dr. Michael Jordan, the Graphic advisor for 13 years, steps down.
Despite the reshuffling in the Center for Communication and Business, not everything will change: Jordan will continue teaching journalism courses and Murrie will continue directing the student television newscast on Channel 26.
Murrie received his Ph.D. in journalism from Southern Illinois University and his master’s from the University of Missouri at Columbia. However, his experience falls behind a video camera more than a pencil and paper.
Consequently, Murrie anticipates keeping up his hands-on work with the right side of the CCB (the broadcast news), while providing leadership and oversight for the left side (the print news). For everyday guidance on the Graphic production, Murrie turns to Assistant Director of Student Journalism Elizabeth Smith. She said she hopes to bring fresh eyes and youthful energy to the staff.
Smith graduated from Harding University in 2000, where Murrie also received his bachelor’s degree, and she spent two years editing and reporting for a newspaper in Newport, R.I., before migrating to Malibu to begin her graduate degree in 2002.
Although she finished her master’s program in December 2003, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to help lead the Graphic.
“The biggest challenge will be filling the void that Dr. Jordan is going to be leaving,” Smith said.
Jordan decided to end his tenure over the Graphic after two major surgeries in 2002, including open heart surgery, left him with a Teflon heart valve. Following doctor’s orders, Jordan is attempting to “reduce a little bit of stress in my life and try to take care of myself.”
Under Jordan’s leadership the Graphic has been nominated for the Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker Award, the “Pulitzer Prize” of college journalism, seven times and has won the prize twice. Last year the Graphic was named the best college newspaper in California.
Both Murrie and Smith assure faculty, students, administration and other readers that they will maintain the quality of the Graphic. Radio and television news programs, with Murrie still in charge, next year should be business as usual.
However, the new director recognizes that his greatest challenge will be mediating between the different languages of television and print news, as well as encouraging the cousin disciplines to cooperate.
“I hope to involve both sides of the first floor, so to speak,” Murrie said. “Let’s cultivate the crossovers.”
Murrie sees the online edition of the Graphic as the perfect place to begin, perhaps adding video clips to the Web site to accompany the news articles.
Both Smith and Murrie expect the fall semester to be a period of transition. The new semester ushers in a new era for Pepperdine journalism. Murrie hopes that, in the future, print and broadcast journalists will be able to collaborate more frequently, reporting for both mediums and honing their skills. Smith hopes the Graphic can tackle more in-depth reports and chase down another Pacemaker award .
“I love the Graphic,” Smith said. “I believe in students, I really do. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”
Submitted April 1, 2004