A Career in Media
My Life and History
My interest in media caused me to seek an after school job in radio. The nearest radio station was 20 miles away, in Quanah, Texas. However, by the summer of 1971, I was able to land a job at KOLJ. The job lasted through my senior year of high school and two years of junior college.
I transferred to Eastern New Mexico University in 1974. The university was in the process of establishing a Public Broadcasting TV station and I started working at KENW-TV3 on the third night of operation, running sound. I continued, becoming a camera person, Master Control operator and director for the noon newscast. My most exciting job, however, was becoming anchor of the 6:00 High Plains Report newscast, a job I held through the 1975-76 school year. In many ways, it was the fulfillment of my dreams of working in media.
After graduation, I took a summer job as an intern at Vernon Center (now North Texas State Hospital). I worked in the media section of the Staff Development department, producing video and slide/tape presentations for training and public information. This type of job suited me very well, and even though I pursued a Master's degree in Mass Communications and considering a career as a news reporter, I kept coming back to the idea of corporate/educational media.
I worked at Vernon College in 1977-78 as Media Specialist, then was able to obtain a position as Director of Prevention and Public Education at Vernon Center in 1979. This was a combination of staff training, media production and public information tasks. Along the way, I became involved in computers and finished my career with the State as Chief Information Officer.
Disk Jockey at KOLJ-AM, 1971
News Anchor, KENW-TV3 High Plains Report, 1975
Through the viewfinder of an RCA broadcast camera, 1976
AV Studio, Vernon State Hospital, 1984
Public Information Officer Interview, 2002