Here are the short biographies and photos of the nine outstanding journalists being inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism hall of Fame this Thursday.
JAMES
COBURN (1955-) has served as reporter and
photographer for The Edmond Sun since 1986. A native of Oklahoma City,
flexibility is Coburn’s middle name, going from a passion as photographer to
feature *writer and then the city beat and state politics. He was on the scene
of the Edmond Postal massacre, and one of the first at the Murrah bombing. His
investigative pieces have included nursing homes, race relations, Alzheimer’s,
death row, drunken driving, and the homeless. He writes annually about the HOPE
center project helping raise funds. He’s won two sweepstakes awards from AP,
and first places from AP and SPJ. He won the American Cancer Society’s High
Plains Media Award in 2008 and 2009. He won the Edmond Historical Society
Historic Preservation Award as well as Photo of the Year from the Oklahoma
Press Association.
JOE
HANCOCK
(1929- ), publisher of the Hobart Democrat-Chief, began working in
newspapers at age nine, five years before his father bought the Democrat-Chief. He worked as a fill-in
Linotype operator during summers for papers at Anadarko, Mangum, Frederick and
Duncan. While a student at OU, he worked
as operator at the Norman Transcript
and Oklahoma Daily. After a two-year
stint in the Army, he returned to the Democrat-Chief
in 1953, selling advertising and writing sports. He became publisher in 1974
when his father died. He’s active in civic and state associations including the
Kiwanis Club and serving on the OU Athletics Council. Name Hobart Citizen of
the Year in 1998, he has been president of the Hobart Housing Board sine
1972. He was president of OPA in
1991-92, and earned the Milt Phillips
Award in 2006, OPA’s highest honor.
JOE HIGHT (1958- ) became editor of The Colorado Springs Gazette in 2012 after a 27-year career with The Oklahoman. Hight began his career
on The Vista at Central State
University. He worked at the Guthrie
Daily Leader, the Lawton Constitution and the Shawnee News-Star before joining The Oklahoman in 1985 as a reporter. He held many newsroom jobs
before becoming a managing editor in 1999 and director of information and
development in 2007. Active in community and professional organizations, he was
president of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, chairman of the
Mid-America Press Institute and elected to the national APME board. He’s
written numerous booklets and articles for the Dart Center, APME and other
publications. He’s taught and lectured for universities and media groups
around the world, been involved in efforts that have garnered national awards,
and has been featured in books.
JOHN KLEIN (1953- ), senior sports columnist since 2005 for
The Tulsa World, began his career in
high school as a sports writer for the Perry
Daily Journal, crediting Milo Watson with encouraging his career. After
graduation from OSU, he was sports editor for the Daily Ardmoreite in 1976-78 before joining the Tulsa World as sports writer. He worked for the Houston Post in 1985-1990 covering the Southwest
Conference, before returning to the World as state reporter playing an important part of
the Murrah building bombing. He became sports editor and columnist in 1995.
Known for his enthusiastic storytelling, he has covered football, basketball, NASCAR,
boxing and golfing. Winning numerous awards, he was Oklahoma sportswriter of
the year in 2000, the top national wrestling writer for seven straight years
and the top college baseball writer in the country in the 1980s.
JERRY
LAIZURE
(1953-2012), senior photographer at the Norman Transcript, worked for
Oklahoma newspapers since age 14 when he fibbed about his age at the Bartlesville
Examiner-Enterprise to start as a
paper boy. He worked at Pawhuska before studying journalism at OU, where
he worked in the production shop at the Oklahoma Daily. He worked
briefly for the Oil and Gas Journal before co-founding the Cleveland
County Record in Noble in 1984, before it was bought by The Norman
Transcript in 1989. His photos won multiple awards from the AP, SPJ and
OPA. He helped usher in the digital age of news and photography coverage for
the Transcript and other papers, and was often first on the scene of breaking
news events, easily recognizable for his Hawaiian shirts and Santa Claus
hats.
MIKE MCCARVILLE (1940- ) has built a national following in
political coverage with online The
McCarville Report, beginning in 1980. He started as a teen correspondent in
Del City for the Oklahoma City Times in 1957, served in the Army and returned to the
Daily Oklahoman and Times in 1961 as reporter. He was
publisher of the Del City News in
1963 and worked at the Oklahoma Journal, Tulsa
Tribune, Norman Transcript and Oklahoma Courier. He became assistant news director of KWTV in
1971-72. He was Gov. Dewey
Bartlett’s press secretary and worked in his senatorial campaign. He worked at KTOK Radio as investigative reporter,
talk show host and program director in 1991-2005. He’s been active in several
national and state organizations, including being director of the National
Association of Business Political Action Committees.
MARY MÉLON (1961- ), president and
publisher of The
Journal Record, was named publisher in 2001 after serving as advertising
director and associate publisher beginning in 1995. She is a member of the
senior management corporate team for The Journal Record’s parent company, the Dolan Company, and
serves as group publisher of daily group operations for five additional
markets. Mélon earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from OU in 1983. A
member of the downtown Rotary Club, she was named Rotarian of the Year in
2003-2004. In 2004, she received 2004 Association for Women in Communications
Byliner Award. She was awarded the 2008 Embrace Award by the YWCA, for
empowering women and eliminating racism and was inducted into the OCU Meinders
School of Business Hall of Honor in 2012.
TOM MUCHMORE (1950- ) is the third generation publisher of The Ponca
City News and The Tonkawa News. He
also owns and is manager of WBBZ Radio and president of poncacity.net,
an Internet provider. He graduated from Ponca
City Senior High School and earned a BBA degree from OU. He’s involved in a
multitude of professional organizations in Oklahoma and has served as chairman
of the Ponca City Area Chamber of Commerce and other civic organizations. He is
currently a trustee on the Lew Wentz Foundation at OSU and a member the OSU
Student Media Board. Muchmore received Ponca City’s Outstanding Citizen Award
in 2001. He served as president of the Oklahoma Press Association in 1997, and
was honored with OPA’s highest honor, the Milt Phillips Award in 2009.
OLIVER
C. MURRAY (1941- ) joined the newsroom at WKY-TV (Now KFOR)
in 1968 after serving in the Army, becoming the first African American
photojournalist in the city. He held many positions including chief news
photographer and production/operations manager in a 38-year career. He became a
force in the newsroom as a role model for minorities and with the advent of
electronic journalism, helping pioneer live news coverage, commanding the
station’s and Oklahoma’s first “live
truck.” He,
Bob Dotson and George Wesley teamed to produce a documentary on black history
in Oklahoma that won three Emmys. He covered
the state capitol, the 1973 McAlester Prison riot, the 1977 Girl Scout murders
and the 1995 Murrah building bombing. He was instrumental in starting the local
chapter of the Association of Black Journalists.
