SHSU to host degree ‘think tank’

Twelve criminal justice experts, journalists and college newspaper editors from around the nation have been invited to SHSU next week to discuss ways to structure a proposed master of science in criminial justice journalism degree.The planning seminar, co-hosted by the College of Criminal Justice and the newly named Department of Mass Communication, is the first major step in creation of the degree, the first and only one like it in the United States.The proposed MSCJJ degree will provide graduate-level instruction for journalists who want to specialize in criminal justice reporting or editing, and for criminal justice officers or officials who seek senior institutional-level positions requiring significant knowledge of news media and public relations skills.Participating in the seminar Sunday through Tuesday at the Criminal Justice Center will be Susan Bischoff, deputy managing editor of the Houston Chronicle and board member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors; Bill Felber, executive editor of The Manhattan (Kan.) Mercury and national treasurer of the Associated Press Managing Editors Association; Jeff Ferrell, Ph.D., associate professor of criminal justice at Texas Christian University; Ted Gest, president of Criminal Justice Journalists in Washington, D.C.; Loyal Gould, Ph.D., Chicago, editor and journalist, and 22-year chairman; and Fred Hartman, professor of journalism at Baylor University.Also, Sarah Eschholz, Ph. D., assistant professor, Department of Criminal Justice at Georgia State University, Atlanta; Hugh Munn, South Carolina College of Mass Communications public relations faculty; Irmo, S.C., and consultant to the U.S. Department of Justice; Reginald Owens, Ph. D., associate professor and E. Jay Taylor Endowed Chair in Journalism, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston; and Ray Surette, Ph.D., professor of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies, University of Central Florida, Orlando.Representing college newspapers are Rachel Perkins, editor, Ball State Daily News, Ball State UNiversity, Muncie, IN; Cory Schouten, editor-in-chief, Indiana Daily student, Indiana State University, Bloomington; and Jeff Sklar, editor-in-chief, Arizone Daily Wildcat, University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.The “think tank” seminar is being underwritten by the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation of Oklahoma City. Coordinating planners are Wes Johnson, Ph.D., associate dean for adminstration, College of Criminal Justice, and Kuyk Logan, Philip G. Warner Endowed Chair of Journalism.