'Roger E. Ailes Newsroom' created in 2007 at top college media program

(This article originally appeared on the Transcendent TV & Media site.)

People involved in the profession and craft of journalism have been taking a closer look at their field in recent weeks.

Consumers of journalism, news programs and other media products have also been following ongoing developments that continue to shape how we perceive the news media.

And at colleges and universities that teach journalism and mass media studies, instructors and students examine how they should approach topics such as journalistic ethics, responsible news reporting and how their efforts affect people in American society and globally.

A renewed focus on what American and international journalism is today and should be is undoubtedly a topic at the prestigious Ohio University E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and Scripps College of Communication, home of the "Roger E. Ailes Newsroom."

Ailes, chairman and chief executive of FOX News, made a large contribution in 2007 to establish the newsroom, though the exact amount has not been publicly disclosed.

The journalism, broadcasting and mass communications studies at Ohio U. have long been viewed as some of the top such programs in the United States.

A GREAT UNIVERSITY

The FOX News chief graduated from Ohio U. in 1962 and was quoted in an Oct. 31, 2007, university public-information article as saying, "Ohio University ignited my interest in broadcasting, which became my lifetime career. I'm happy to contribute to a great university."

In addition, since 1994 Ailes provided scholarships for students in the Scripps College of Communications involved in telecommunication studies, including the public broadcasting operations of WOUB TV and radio.

Ailes majored in radio and TV at OU and was a WOUB radio student station manager for two years, according to university information.

Scripps College Dean Gregory Shepherd was quoted in 2007 as saying, "This state-of-the-art newsroom will allow Scripps College students and WOUB professionals to work side by side. This gift is a wonderful and generous act of giving back by a very accomplished alumnus. I am very grateful to Roger for this extraordinary support."

According to an April 2008 Associated Press report, that month Ailes returned to the OU campus, nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian region of southeastern Ohio, to attend a ceremony that rededicated the student radio and TV newsroom to honor him.

DOWN TO EARTH

Ohio University and the Athens region are unique places that do seem to stay in the hearts of alumni, apparently including Ailes.

The university was conceived by veterans of the American Revolution and was formally established in 1804, when southeastern Ohio was still a forest wilderness in many ways. At that time, settlers were moving over the Appalachian Mountains and into lands on the western side of the mountain range. In fact, many Revolutionary War veterans settled in the area.

Native American Indians who had lived in the region were in the process of being involuntarily moved westward.

Ohio University grew and changed over the decades. After World War II, returning veterans with GI Bill education benefits flooded the OU campus to obtain their college education.

A little more than two decades later during the Vietnam War era, the university was forcibly shut down in the spring of 1970 and occupied by Ohio National Guard troops, as were other state universities in Ohio, following the Kent State shootings.

But turbulent national and international developments did not necessarily take away important parts of the Ohio University experience for students.

The rolling and forested foothills of southeast Ohio introduced many students to traditional Appalachian music, rural living, down-to-Earth local people and rich history of the area as well as other natural aspects of college life.

Let's hope that journalism and mass media students at Ohio University today and in the future, as well as alumni, will continue to value high standards of professionalism, ethics and a deeply-rooted love for their country as they pursue their communications endeavors.

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