OC honors First Amendment supporters Dawn Shelton, Mark Thomas and Larry Jurney Dec. 4 for their help in news deserts

The free event to the public honored the owner of the Luther Register, the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Press Association and OC’s longtime broadcast educator.

November 26, 2019 - According to the Columbia Journalism Review and the Poynter Institute, news deserts in the United States continue to grow as newspapers close, especially in rural areas. While Oklahoma is not immune, there are champions who are fighting to provide journalism in smaller communities across the state.

Three of those supporters were honored by the Department of Communication at Oklahoma Christian University Dec. 4. Dawn Shelton, Mark Thomas and Larry Jurney received an Oasis in the Desert Award for their support of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment right to the freedom of the press. Shelton and Thomas are both journalism graduates from OC, while Jurney is a longtime journalism professor there.

For more than three decades in Oklahoma, Larry Jurney has helped prepare journalism students to be professionals who care about the First Amendment. He did the same in Michigan before joining OC. Dr. Jurney has been a longtime leader of the Oklahoma Broadcast Education Association, where he worked with others to bring in some of the most accomplished television journalists to inspire and teach college students from across the state. He has been the driving force behind OC’s weekly television news broadcast, Eagle Angle, and he has mentored thousands of students. One of his graduates, Meagan Harris, is reaching a new kind of news desert, younger audiences that are not watching 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. Harris is the managing editor and news director of NBCLX, a new brand created by NBC-Universal.

“If I had been asked, I would have said not to honor me,” a humble Jurney said. “I am incredibly grateful, and I can think of no greater work than preparing students to make a difference in journalism and to exercise their First Amendment responsibilities.”

Shelton is the owner the Luther Register, an online newspaper in Luther, Oklahoma, which she started as a labor of love just a few years ago. Shelton’s reporting, often in her spare time around other jobs, has resulted in more transparency and citizen involvement in local government. In addition, Shelton’s reporting contributed to the creation of the Luther Pecan Festival, which has built community pride and resulted in more than 10,000 visitors coming to the now annual festival in November.

“We need more students to go into journalism,” Shelton said. “This is hard work, but it is vitally important to small towns like Luther.”

Thomas is the longtime executive director of the Oklahoma Press Association, a trade organization that serves daily and weekly newspapers across the state, with many of those existing as the only source of local news in those communities. The OPA also oversees the Oklahoma Newspaper Foundation and the Oklahoma Press Services; the ONF offers educational and charitable programs to students and communities across the state, while the OPS provides information to newspapers about advertising planning and placement. Thomas’ work as executive director also involves helping journalists with lobbying and Freedom of Information Requests from state and federal government officials. In 2013, Thomas received the Carter Bradley First Amendment Award from the Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists.

“It is inspiring to see the next generation in attendance to hear why the First Amendment matters,” Thomas said. “It has been an honor to help reporters tell stories that matter, especially when facing opposition that goes against the First Amendment.”

OC’s awards ceremony is funded in part by a grant from the 1 For All program at the Middle Tennessee State University Free Speech Center. In November and December, OC communication students have promoted awareness of the First Amendment by emphasizing the acronym A-GRASP, adapted from OC’s Distinguished Professor of Communication Philip Patterson. The acronym represents the five freedoms of the First Amendment: the freedom to Ask Government to respond to complaints, the freedom of Religion, the freedom to peaceably Assemble, the freedom of Speech and the freedom of the Press. More information on the students’ campaign is available at www.agrasp.org.

According to OC Department of Communication Chair Brian Simmons, the event is a small way that the next generation of communication students can honor those fighting for the freedom of the press today.

“These impressive and faith-led journalism professionals and OC alumni shine a light on the important work we hope current students will continue to do,” Simmons said. “We want to honor Dawn and Mark, but their examples bring honor to us, and we are know that students will be inspired to keep up this worthy work.”

The 1 For All grant that has made the event and campaign possible came about through the work of Associate Professor of Communication Josh Watson.

“This grant and campaign opportunity was a perfect fit for the varied majors in the Department of Communication,” he said. “We want more students to work in journalism, and we also want those who are not journalists to be supporters of the freedom of the press.”

The Oasis in the Desert Awards ceremony was held from 1-1:30 p.m. in the Conservatory on the OC campus. Parking was available adjacent to the Garvey Center. For more information, contact Watson at 405-219-1225.