Texas Tech University

Randy Reddick

Retired Professor of Journalism
Journalism & Creative Media Industries

Email: r.reddick@ttu.edu

Phone: +1.806.834.0776

Research: Media history, communication technology, and the intersections of both.

Web: http://www.webpages.ttu.edu/rreddick/

Ph.D. Ohio University, 1991

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Randy Reddick

Biography

Dr. Reddick grew up in southern California where he sailed and cycled competitively and worked as a soda jerk at the Jolly Roger Restaurant on Balboa Island during high school. His primary surfing venue was a place called "The Wedge." He attended the National Boy Scout Jamboree as a Cub Scout in 1953 and has remained active in Scouting since. He has been active in the LDS Church since 1975. He was a chemistry and biology double major as an undergraduate at USC. He served as managing editor of The (Paso Robles, Calif.) Daily Press and as company vice president 1973-1988. During his newspaper career in California he won state and national prizes both for writing and for news photography. Newspaper reporter, photographer, editor and company vice president (1970-88). Founding editor of FACSNET (1995-1999). Senior vice president, Foundation for American Communications (2000-03). He has provided educational seminars for reporters and editors of Newhouse Newspapers, Copley Newspapers, Reuters News Service, The Poynter Institute, American Press Institute, NASW, NCEW, and other media organizations. Teaching positions at E.W. Scripps School of Journalism (1988-90) and the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism (1996-99).

Research

Lead author or coauthor of four textbooks, one textbook chapter and articles or reviews in the Southwestern Journal of Mass Communication and Journalism History. His book The Online Journalist has been translated into three foreign languages and gone through three English language editions. He has presented research and/or spoken on panels at conferences of AEJMC, NICAR, IRE, California Society of Newspaper Editors, SPJ, NetMedia, Asia Center for Journalism, IFRA, NewsWorld, National Consumers League, Nuclear Energy Institute, and other organizations.

 

Methodologies

  • Content Analysis
  • In-Depth Interviews
  • Survey
  • Field Observation

Research Areas

  • Media history
  • Communication technology

Selected Publications

Books:

Reddick, Randy and Elliot King, 
The Online Journalist: Using the Internet and Other Electronic Sources, Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace. Third edition 2001. Textbook adopted at colleges and universities in the United States, Europe, and Asia on both graduate and undergraduate levels. Abroad, The Online Journalist has had favorable reviews in the U.S., England, the Netherlands, Japan, and Sweden. Translated into Russian, Albanian, and Indonesian. First edition 1995, Second edition 1997, Third edition 2001.

Reddick, Randy and Elliot King, The Online Student: Making the Grade on the Internet, Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace, 1996. An inter-disciplinary textbook.

Bruning, David, Randy Reddick, and Elliot King, Saunders Internet Guide for Astronomy, Philadelphia: Saunders Publishing.

Mayer, Larry, Randy Reddick, and Elliot King, Saunders Internet Guide for Earth Science, Philadelphia: Saunders Publishing.

Chapters and articles:

Reddick, Randy. "Grokking WebCT" in Best Practices in Journalism Education in the Information Age, Manila, Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, 2005.

Reddick, Randy, and Jim Fickess, "New Media Summit" in Journalism and Mass Communication Education: 2001 and Beyond, Columbia, South Carolina: Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, 2001.

"FIDONet Made Me Do It" in When Nerds and Words Collide: Reflections on the Development of Computer Assisted Reporting, St. Petersburg, Florida: The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, 1999.

"Newspaper Competition" in Margaret A. Blanchard, Ed. History of the Mass Media in the United States Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1998.

Reddick, Randy, "Newsroom Computers: Threat or Opportunity? A study of Computer Utility Among Ohio Newspapers," Southwestern Mass Communication Journal, 1992, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 176-187.

Teaching Focus

Media Law (MCOM 3320): The evolution of media and communication law during the last century is deeply enmeshed with the development of communication technology and with media history itself. Development of communications law within a self-governing society is reflective of how that society relates to its own media.

Advanced Reporting (JOUR 4370): CBS News used computer modeling to project election results in 1952, and a Pulitzer Prize was awarded in 1989 for reporting based on hard-core data analysis of financial institution red-lining. Since then, "data journalism" has incorporated various techniques and tools to augment the stable of those folks known as investigative reporters. These tools help give society's watchdog both bark and bite.

Advanced Web Production (EMC 4315): The Digital Revolution is still going on. The World Wide Web as a platform for delivering news and information (messages of all kinds) has incorporated several -- still evolving -- technologies. New technologies and new tools for packaging messages impact the messages themselves. It is critical that we understand these interactions.

Media Administration (MCOM 5349)
Digital Media (MCOM 6338)
History of Journalism (JOUR 3350)
Multi-Platform News Delivery (JOUR 4350)

Awards & Leadership

Second Place, College of Mass Communications' L.U. Kaiser Innovative Teaching Award, 2009

AEJMC Presidential Citation for contribution to the national organization, 2001.

Identified by Poynter Institute for Media Studies as one of 22 key pioneers in development of the professional discipline of Computer Assisted Reporting, January, 1999.

First Place, School of Mass Communications' L.U. Kaiser Innovative Teaching Award, 1995.

Associated Press Managing Editors, citation for outstanding contribution to AP report in both News and News photos for 1987

California Newspaper Publishers Assn. Best Series of Articles, 2nd Place 1980

AEJMC Board of Directors, 2003-05

AEJMC Council of Affiliates Chair, 2001-03

AEJMC Newspaper Division Head, 2000-01

ASJMC-AEJMC Joint Committee on Distance Education. 1997-99

Society of Professional Journalists National Convention "Newsroom of the Future" organizer 1998

Investigative Reporters and Editors national convention trainer 1995, 1999, 2002

National Institute for Computer Assisted Reporting: panelist, instructor, and coach at national conferences 1995-2000

American Society of Newspaper Editors, Multimedia Committee 2002-03