Turner, Merryman share their talents through communication classes
Chris Pepple |
The world has changed for communication students. Today’s communication graduates might walk into a position and launch a blog, an audio podcast or a video report as a one-person operation, handling editorial and business duties simultaneously instead of beginning as an intern writing obituaries and hoping for a byline. Students must be prepared for a variety of roles without waiting for work experience to be gained after graduation.
| Jimmy McCollum |
Lipscomb’s Department of Communication paves the way for success by offering many outstanding opportunities for professional development. In addition to the depth of experience of the fulltime faculty members, Debbie Turner and Terri Merryman have joined the communication department as adjunct faculty offering students new opportunities to study broadcast programming and gain on-camera experience.
Terri Merryman is known to many people in Nashville through her four years of working as an anchor and medical reporter on WSMV-TV. Her career also has taken her to the anchor desk in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Miami, and Atlanta. She ducked rifle fire, lived in an Israeli colony and traveled to a Russian village to land award-winning stories. As correspondent for the NBC syndicated show "Real Life,” she traveled across the nation to report on missing and exploited children, prayer in Mississippi schools, the kidnapping of a news anchor in Oklahoma, and a community coming to the aid of a teenager with a rare form of leukemia. A stint as associate producer on the live "Survivor-Reunion" show gave the Tennessee native valuable behind the scenes experience on a national stage. Today at WebbNEWS, Merryman relies on her vast reporting, anchoring and production experience to get the stories to a worldwide audience surfing the web for news and information they can't find in their local television newscast.
Merryman offers Lipscomb students an opportunity to be on camera in each class session, honing their presentation skills as they experience the demands placed on television anchors and reporters on location. She also teaches private on-camera commercial acting courses offering students an opportunity to strengthen their anchoring, acting and auditioning skills, once having Reese Witherspoon in her class.
“Teaching is something I have never really stopped doing. I love to work with students and see the light come on when they understand something you are teaching them. As a teacher, I get to encourage students and let them know they have something to offer. Each student brings something unique to this industry. I want to give them an opportunity to share what they have,” said Merryman.
Debbie Turner is the president and general manager of the NewsChannel 5 Network. Prior to coming to Nashville, she worked with Landmark Communications in Norfolk, Virginia. She began her career as an auditor for Price Waterhouse. As an influential person in the Nashville community, she is serving or has recently served on the following boards: Tennessee Association of Broadcasters, Leadership Nashville's Board of Trustees, Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, the Saint Thomas Hospital Foundation, the Jason Foundation, Kids Voting, and the Better Business Bureau. She is an alumnus of Leadership Nashville and a member of the Downtown Rotary Club. Turner has also addressed the senior leadership team at Lipscomb as part of a series of discussions bringing in community leaders to share their leadership perspective.
Turner’s broadcast programming class offers students an analysis of the different types of radio and television programming and their audiences. Turner also exposes the students to the demands of managing the professionals in the field. To further enhance class studies, Turner has invited former FCC Commissioner Debi Tate to speak to the class on February 12. Interested students may join the 6:30 p.m. class for this session.
“My daughter is a senior attending Lipscomb this year. I have a great deal of respect for Randy Lowry. I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak with his leadership team this past year. For me, teaching is a great way to give back to the university. I can offer the students an opportunity to learn from a professional working in the field they are majoring in,” said Turner.
“We are very fortunate to be able to add Debbie Turner and Terri Merryman to our department. Together they bring a wealth of experience in and knowledge of various media fields. One major trend in media today is convergence. Graduates need to know how to write a story, go in front of a camera, shoot pictures and video, and capture and edit audio. We are challenged to equip our students to be ‘backpack journalists’ in the sense that professionals need a figurative backpack of media skills. Our ability to bring in additional professionals in the field allows us to better equip our students with the skills they will need on the job,” said Jimmy McCollum, associate professor of communication and chair of the department.
The Department of Communication is located in the Ezell Center, which houses a 40 x 40 TV studio, a radio station and five multimedia editing suites. The Mullican Television Studio offers students state-of-the-art facilities to gain studio production and media editing experience without leaving the campus. Bill and Dot Mullican generously donated the original funds for the television studio to be added into the plans for the Ezell building. They have since bestowed the department with another significant monetary gift which is being used to equip the television studio and editing suites in Ezell. The studio will allow students to create a full television-quality studio production at Lipscomb recorded, produced and sent out in full high definition.