Fall 2007 - SCOOP Magazine

A s time goes byThe journalism program at the University ofTennessee has come a long way in 60 years.Story byLindy RiderBy 1946, The New York Times had been reporting news for 96 years and TheWashington Post for 70 years. Several journalism schools were already in place atuniversities. The Missouri School of Journalism was the first, established in 1908,followed by Boston University’s Department of Journalism in 1916. News had alreadyreached the radio, made famous by President Roosevelt’s fireside chats throughouthis presidency, and television was quickly developing as an alternate news medium.It was time for Tennessee to join the revolution.In 1946 the Tennessee Press Association requested that the university “expand itsofferings in the field of journalism to enable the youth of the state to specialize in thisprofession,” and in 1947, the Department of Journalism was launched as a subset ofthe College of Business Administration. Before the School of Journalism was formed,journalism classes made up a small part of the English curriculum, beginning in1923. Three classes in news reporting, editing and feature writing were available tostudents who wanted to study “the fine art of letters as an expression of life.” For 24years the study of journalism remained a tiny sliver of academia at Tennessee, but inthe 1940s the time had come for the program to branch out.Julian Harriss, who became director of public relations after the death of StanleyJohnson, worked together with the dean of the business college, Wesley T. Glocker,to develop the new journalism program. They garnered most of their research fromprograms in the Midwest, and used input from the heads of local newspapers andpublic relations companies. They brought in Willis C. Tucker from the University ofKentucky to head the new department, and he saw the program through more thana quarter of a century.Harriss, in his new role as director of public relations at the university, publishedbrochures about the new department, which were passed around at fall registrationand managed to pique the interest of 142 students, of whom 90 were declared journalismmajors. The remaining 52 students were mostly agriculture and home economicsmajors who were allowed to take courses in journalism to complete their writingrequirements.Courses in the new journalism program covered news ethics and principles,fall 2007