Uncovering - West Virginia University

In his third-floor office in Martin Hall, among
unpacked boxes, Bill Kuykendall (BA, zoology,
1966) reminisces about his career that led him
back to WVU as the School of Journalism’s
Visiting Shott Chair of Journalism.
Kuykendall joined the SOJ faculty for the
Spring 2009 semester to teach visual journalism
courses and work with Associate Professor John
Temple on the “West Virginia Uncovered”
multimedia project.
Kuykendall, whose journalism career began
as a staff photographer for WVU’s Daily
Athenaeum, was a multimedia journalist before
anyone knew what the term
meant. He recognized early
on the potential of combining
different media to tell stories.
As part of his application
for a National Geographic
internship in 1968,
Kuykendall developed a
slideshow to showcase
his photography. Using
projectors, tape recorders and
speakers, he narrated, edited
and set to music a 20-minute
slideshow of West Virginia images.
“It was multimedia convergence journalism,”
said Kuykendall. “We’re doing that now, but
some of us were doing that in the ’60s before
personal computers and programs simplified the
process.”
Visiting Shott Chair of Journalism
Bill Kuykendall trains “West Virginia
Uncovered” students Leann Arthur,
Steve Butera and Erin Murray to
capture quality audio and video.
Shott Chair brings storytelling,
multimedia expertise to SOJ By ERin WooDDEll
That cutting-edge portfolio landed him the
internship.
After the internship, Kuykendall worked for The
Worthington Daily Globe, a small, family-run
paper in Minnesota. While there, Kuykendall
earned the 1971 National Press Photographers
Association’s Newspaper Picture Editor of the
Year award.
During the next decade, Kuykendall worked
in various positions, including photo director
for the Seattle Times, freelance photographer,
consultant, magazine editor and print and
multimedia designer. Along the way, he earned
his master’s in
“I want to show them [the
students] the importance
of capitalizing on the
power of new media and
to teach them that great
content is key to a great
story.”
— Bill Kuykendall
Kendal Montgomery
journalism and mass
communication
from the University
of Minnesota.
In 1986, Kuykendall
became a professor
and the director
of the renowned
photojournalism
sequence at the
University of
Missouri School of
Journalism. He also directed the annual Pictures
of the Year contest and co-directed the Missouri
Photo Workshop.
Kuykendall later moved on to the University of
Maine as Libra Professor of Interdisciplinary
Studies and director of new media and then
senior lecturer in new media and cooperating
professor of communication and journalism. He
is currently on sabbatical from the University of
Maine.
As a journalist and educator, Kuykendall sees
new media as a vehicle for making news more
relevant to readers. His desire to work with
the “West Virginia Uncovered” project grew
out of his passion for storytelling across media
platforms.
“I want to show them [the students] the
importance of capitalizing on the power of new
media and to teach them that great content is
key to a great story,” Kuykendall said.
As part of the project, Kuykendall also is
helping to develop and lead workshops to train
newspaper reporters and staff how to produce
and edit multimedia stories for the Internet and
enhance their Web presence.
“West Virginia Uncovered” project director
John Temple said Kuykendall’s experiences and
expertise make him the ideal addition to the
project.
“As a professional and an educator, Bill has
brought his vision of community journalism to
this project and the workshops,” said Temple.
“His passion for storytelling resonates with both
the students and newspaper staff.”
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