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Sept. 27
Glenn Johnson to be recognized for 34 years of service
Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012
By Larry Ganders, Edward R. Murrow College of Communication
PULLMAN, Wash. - Washington State University Professor Glenn Johnson will be recognized for 34 years of teaching and professional excellence in broadcasting education during The Edward R. Murrow Symposium awards ceremony at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27, at Beasley Coliseum.The public is invited to the free event, which will feature a keynote address by veteran news broadcaster Dan Rather. This will be the 38th Murrow Symposium on news and communications hosted by the university.
Successful students nationwide
Johnson began a phased retirement from The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication this fall. He will teach and work for the college half time while continuing an array of roles he has simultaneously fulfilled for many years: mayor of Pullman, announcer for WSU football and basketball games, secretary-treasurer of the Washington Association of Broadcasters and Association of Washington Cities board member.
Despite his many responsibilities, Johnson said he always strives to put his students first. His former WSU students in television news and communications management are working across the country.
Despite his many responsibilities, Johnson said he always strives to put his students first. His former WSU students in television news and communications management are working across the country.
Among the many who still keep in touch are Eric Johnson, news anchor at KOMO TV, Seattle; Kathy Brock, co-anchor of the evening newscasts for WLS 7, Chicago; Pat Dooris, reporter for KGW 8 in Portland; Carl Click, KATU anchor, Portland; Dave Huddleston, WSBTV Atlanta reporter; Keith Shipman, Horizon Broadcasting chief executive officer in Bend; Rod Simons, a former Northwest news and sports anchor and now Minneapolis media consultant; and Cindy Brunson, ESPN Sportscenter weekend morning edition anchor.
Real-life education
Early in his career at Murrow, Johnson said, he took the Pullman campus student television operation "Cable 8 News” from a weekly program to a student-produced academic course that created a nightly newscast.
"News directors across the country respect that a student knows how to feed the beast every night,” he said.
Insistent that his students use current technology, he worked "by hook and by crook” to replace outdated television film equipment with video cameras that had already been the standard in the industry for years. The only video camera owned by the university when Johnson arrived in 1979 required power from a wall outlet. Until he could secure funding for battery-powered video cameras, Johnson said he created some flexibility for remote news reporting with a 200-foot extension cord.
In a video tribute marking Johnson’s years of teaching, KOMO TV’s Eric Johnson concluded, "Maybe if we never knew Glenn Johnson, we’d still be in the news business. Maybe. But we wouldn’t be as good. We wouldn’t care as much. We wouldn’t be Murrow broadcasters.”
First-down fundraiser supports teaching
Johnson is in his 33rd season as Martin Stadium football announcer, where he has been known for the trademark phrase, "And that’s another Cougar first down.”
In his honor, the Murrow College launched a fundraising campaign that allows supporters to pledge money for each first down scored by the football team during the 2012 season. That means donors are pledging one dollar or more for every time Johnson utters the words, "And that’s another Cougar first down.”
The funding enhances communications teaching by establishing a "distinguished professorship” in his name. The goal is to raise $300,000 for The Glenn A. Johnson Endowed Professorship. The campaign has raised $14,000 in its first days. Learn more at http://anothercougarfirstdown.wsu.edu.
The campaign began as a grassroots effort by some of his former WSU students.
"Glenn Johnson is one of the reasons I went into broadcasting and had a successful 25-year career,” said Margo Myers, former KOMO TV news anchor and one of the alumni behind the campaign.
Among many previous honors received by Johnson is the 2008 Ed Bliss Award for electronic journalism educators. The award, named for the longtime writer and producer for Edward R. Murrow, is given by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. In 1993, Johnson was the first educator to be inducted into the National Academy of Televisions Arts and Sciences-Northwest Chapter Silver Circle.
Contact:
Larry Ganders, WSU Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, lawrence.ganders@wsu.edu, 360-280-6320
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