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By Shannon Mullane (MJour’19)Ěý
In celebration of 100 years of journalism education, CMCI and the Department of Journalism invited alumni to share memories of their own experiences at ˛ĘĂń±¦µä.Ěý
The result: slices of life as student journalists across decades—inside jokes and reporting adventures included.
On April 21, 1922, the University of Colorado Board of Regents voted to form the Department of Journalism and created the university’s first four-year journalism degree program. A century later (to the day), the college and the journalism department launched a yearlong celebration featuring campus events, alumni stories, social media campaigns, multimedia projects and magazine features in CMCI Now.
“These stories just clearly highlight the amazing work, now in the past, from our students, faculty and staff,” said Pat Ferrucci, interim chair of the journalism department. “To hear stories from some of our past students about what the program meant to them—it just makes this celebration even more meaningful.”
It’s our pleasure to share a selection of these alumni stories in this edition of CMCI Now. Read on to hear from Timothy Coy (´ˇ»ĺ±ą±đ°ůłŮ’80), Jenny Herring (Jour’82) and Danielle Kreutter (´ł´ÇłÜ°ů’11).
Danielle Kreutter (Jour’11)
Jenny Herring (Jour’82)
Timothy Coy (Advert’80)
Danielle Kreutter (Jour’11) was part of the final graduating class of the School of Journalism before it was incorporated into the College of Media, Communication and Information.
Danielle Kreutter reports during an episode of NewsTeam Boulder in 2011.
Photo provided by Danielle Kreutter.Ěý
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In 2011, with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast news in hand, Kreutter joined the workforce intent on being a true community journalist:
What that ended up looking like, for me, was spending the last decade covering stories all across Colorado. My first job in Grand Junction gave me opportunities to tell stories across the Western Slope, covering presidential campaign visits and driving back to the Front Range to bring around-the-clock coverage of the tragic Aurora movie theater shooting in 2012.
After two years in Grand Junction, I headed to my next job in Colorado Springs. While there, I worked on investigations that held business owners accountable to the Americans with Disabilities Act; gave a voice to victims and families during difficult criminal justice proceedings; and kept residents up to date when dangerous severe weather or wildfires threatened neighborhoods.
I am thrilled to be back in my hometown of Denver covering stories that impact my friends and family with the Denver7 news team.
My work has been recognized by the Colorado Broadcasters Association with the Award for Excellence for Best Reporter in a Non-Metro Market in 2016. I was also part of the team coverage of a severe spring blizzard that received the Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast in Small Market Television in 2020.
It's been such a joy to cover my home state as a journalist and meet CU alumni in newsrooms along the way!
She shares glimpses into student life—from inside jokes to favorite faculty and staff—at CU between 1978 and 1982.
I laughed out loud when I read John Leach’s admission in CMCI Now that his pre-journalism studies as a math major weren’t the right fit. In fact, the expression I remember from my own undergrad days was along the lines of, “We don’t do math. We’re journalists—we have math anxiety.” Ěý
How ironic that at least a couple of us who graduated from the School of Journalism in the 1980s actually used our news-editorial degrees to write about investments and capital markets. While one of my friends had the foresight to take economics, I never did—which meant what little knowledge I gained was on the job.Ěý
My career path took me into providing public relations counsel, writing and editing for a variety of esoteric companies including penny stocks (bottled water! Canadian diamonds!), retail and institutional asset management firms (mutual funds and pension plans) and even a food safety company.Ěý
As the old J-school joke goes, I had a perfect face for radio, hence the news-editorial sequence was the best course for me. However, years later during a CMCI homecoming event, two alums asked if they could join me at the “broadcasting table.” I only hope they meant “television broadcasting.”Ěý
But enough about me. Here are a few things I remember about life in the School of Journalism from 1978-1982:
- All those hours at Macky. The journalism school shared Macky Auditorium with the CU College of Music, and there were still practice rooms in the towers. Our classrooms and office space were primarily on the first floor. Then there was the legendary basement . . . home to the student-runĚýThe Campus Press weekly newspaper. As an assignment editor for this paper, I had the dubious privilege of being in some of the creepier basement rooms, including the darkroom and one housing the “waxer.” ĚýAfter typesetting [the] copy and printing out a page, we had to wax the slick paper so that it would stick on the layout “dummy.” Yes, Virginia, this was the method before desktop publishing.
- The staff. Garda Meyer, who served as an assistant to the J-School dean for over 25 years, was always a friendly face up on the third floor of Macky. Kay Rock was a comfort on career counseling, although at the time I graduated she thought I might want to apply for a sports writing position in Ogallala, Nebraska. No.Ěý
- The faculty. Students from that era will never forget Professor Sam Archibald, who was instrumental in the development of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and shared his wisdom through the Journalism and the Law course as well as a senior-level investigative reporting class. I am embarrassed to say I was not Woodward or Bernstein.
- Mal Deans, an instructor with an impeccable background in real-world journalism that included a role as newspaper ombudsman at the Rocky Mountain News. Deans shepherdedĚýThe Campus Press weekly and worked in the trenches with us to get the paper out. Ěý
- Professor Bill McReynolds taught a history of journalism course. Possibly as part of this course, he presented an in-depth analysis of “Jeffersonian vs. Jacksonian” thought and the influence this had on democracy and the Western expansion of America. I wish I still had the notes. He was also one of our instructors in the legendary Reporting of Public Affairs class where we learned to stay awake and report on Boulder City Council meetings.
- Professor Bob Rhode, who taught photography. I still have my copy of his book, Introduction to Photography, as well as his critique of the somewhat fuzzy black-and-white photos I submitted for a class portfolio in 1981. I blame the poor focusing abilities of my Pentax K-1000 camera.
- Jane Cracraft, an instructor and Denver Post reporter who later became a private legal investigator. I loved her stories of Boulder county mysteries that had been solved through research and digging, and sometimes only because somebody knew somebody who knew something.Ěý
- RTD and the walk to campus. Although I didn’t know it at the time, I was a “non-traditional student” since I lived in Longmont and took the RTD bus to Boulder every day. Oh, that morning slog up the hill from Broadway and Canyon to campus, through all kinds of weather, and then back down in the afternoon. I was in the best shape of my life. Ěý
Forty years later, I realize how much my CU J-School experiences and education shaped me and provided a strong advantage in my career. Ěý
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Jenny Herring (Jour’82) graduated from the news-editorial sequence in the School of Journalism, one of three sequences that also included advertising and broadcast news.
Jenny Herring and her father, Bill Herring (Bus'50, MEdu'57), on graduation day May 21, 1982, at the CU Events Center, known as the Coors Event Center at the time.
Photo provided by Jenny Herring.Ěý
Timothy Coy (Advert’80) joined the School of Journalism in 1978, where he took journalism classes as he pursued a concentration in advertising.
Yearbook photo of Timothy Coy from 1980.
Provided by Timothy Coy.
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In addition to some favorite professors—like Don Somerville, who could make the 20-somethings laugh with his brand of humor, and Chris Burns, who made advertising fun and challenged students to do their absolute best—Coy shared some memorable moments from his journalism classes:
One memory that stands out was the Radio and Television News class. Bob Palmer wasn't the instructor during the spring 1979 semester, so that responsibility fell onto Richard Riggs, the investigative reporter for KOA Channel 4, as it was called at that time.
One of the assignments was to meet Richard at the station and go out in the news car for hands-on training. He, his photographer and I went to Alzado’s, a new restaurant owned by former Broncos defensive end Lyle Alzado, for its grand opening in Cherry Creek.
I was assigned to lug the VCR so his photographer didn't have to; as in those days, the tape deck was not self-contained in the camera. Being part of a news team must have been impressive, as I was hit on by a young lady while at the restaurant doing the job I was asked to do.
We later shot some tape of a Denver city council meeting and returned to the station, only to hear gunfire while the car was being parked. We all ducked down and went inside a few minutes later.
I enjoyed a 32-year advertising and marketing career at the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post, and to this day I operate a graphic design business, creating diverse items such as magazines, logos, website artwork and much more. I have CMCI to thank for the education and foundation that led to my career and the positive memories it left.