From subsection to institution: Arizona State’s development of the Cronkite School
Today, Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism is among its industry’s most developed institutions. Located in Downtown Phoenix, the complex is home to multiple digital newsrooms, editing bays, a large public forum and more resources to assist its students in gaining valuable experience in the profession.
The first classes began at the Cronkite School on Aug. 25, 2008, and it is now one of 24 independent schools at ASU. But before it reached an elevated status, the school was formerly introduced on a much smaller scale.
In 1931, ASU introduced its earliest form of journalism-specific coursework as a form of public relations. The school’s president, Ralph Swetman, wanted to have a publicist on his staff, which led to the hiring of William D. Taylor — who also became a faculty representative for athletics — to lead the first journalism classes.
After primarily being used to build skills needed for the student newspaper and yearbook, ASU’s journalism classes were upgraded to a division in 1949, when Ernest J. Hopkins was hired as an associate professor of journalism, the first faculty member in the school’s history to receive the title. ASU then established the Division of Journalism, which had 10 courses, including its first class in radio news offered in 1951.
Over the next 30 years, ASU’s journalism education went through a slew of changes, including becoming its own department in 1957 and changing its name to ‘Journalism and Telecommunication’ in 1979. In 1984, however, the institution began its transition to its current standing.
That year, Walter Cronkite, who broadcasted several historic moments as an anchor of CBS Evening News, had his name attached to the department, turning it into the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunication following approval from The Board of Regents. Faculty Professor Douglas A. Anderson then took over as director and helped the school take off into the 1990s.
After launching a student-led TV newscast and having students win multiple Hearst intercollegiate journalism awards in that decade, the school was again renamed to its current title as the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in 2001. And once again, the program’s growth indicated a time for more expansion.
In 2004, ASU president Michael Crow stated his desire for the Cronkite School to reach independent status and become a part of the school’s new campus in Downtown Phoenix. Crow then hired Christopher Callahan the following year to become the school’s dean, and it officially opened its doors three years later.
Since then, Callahan has introduced a number of partnerships and affiliations with the school, including Cronkite News, where students report on stories from bureaus in Phoenix, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. Opportunities were also initiated in a public relations, innovation and entrepreneurship labs.
The Cronkite School is also home to Arizona PBS telecasts, which is the largest media outlet operated by a journalism institution in the entire world.
Currently, the Cronkite School is surrounded by eight degree-granting programs, such as the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation. It has been over 11 years since the building was established in Phoenix and it is poised to continue to grow.
Information Credit: ASU Downtown Phoenix Timeline, ASU Cronkite School History.
