Meyer brings community-based, online focus
After earning his PhD at the University of Missouri, Hans Meyer will turn his attention to teaching news writing and editing courses at Ohio University next year. The doctorate will be Meyer’s second graduate degree from Missouri. Meyer also has an undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University and a decade of experience in the world of community newspapers.
“I was the editor of a small community newspaper in Barstow, California,” Meyer said. “A lot of the reporters I worked with were right out of college and I was able to show them how journalism fits into a community and how important their jobs were. I’d like to translate that to the classroom.” Before becoming general manager of the Barstow-based Desert Dispatch, a paper with a daily circulation of about 6,000, Meyer was a reporter and city editor for the St. George, Utah, Spectrum. He also created The Hesperia Star in Hesperia, Calif., a weekly newspaper serving 15,000 local readers. Meyer said that in addition to his professional experience, his research interests in online journalism will influence his teaching style.
“It’s common for me to use things like Saturday Night Live clips from Hulu and YouTube,” Meyer said. “I’m not just doing it for the sake of showing it, but to emphasize that journalism concepts are such real world ideas. So I might show something like Brian Williams hosting SNL to consider what it says about journalism today. It’s probably not something Dan Rather would have done years ago.”
Meyer said he feels comfortable with the move to OU for a couple of reasons.
“I’ve had colleagues who have pretty strong connections with OU and they’ve always given me good impressions,” Meyer said. “Athens also fits in with my experience because of the community focus. It’s a place where you can argue the value of small town journalism and not just working for the New York Times.”
Meyer said the transition does have its frustrations, as his wife and three young children are moving with him.
“We just got back from Athens last weekend and the biggest hurdle is finding a house because I have a pretty large family” Meyer said. “But we have a small town preference anyway so it will work out.”
Meyer said he hopes to emphasize two overarching themes to his students, including “showing how journalism fits into the world” and “looking at the media with a more critical eye.” He said he retains a spirit of optimism for journalism’s future.
“As dire as the predictions are, I think it’s a really exciting time,” Meyer said. “People really confuse what journalism will be like in the next five or ten years. Newspapers will still have a role, but they might not look like they do today. We’ll see a blending of old and new technology.”
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