Tennessee State to name newsroom after biz reporter Ward

Getahn Ward

The Tennessee State University Department of Communications will name its multimedia newsroom in honor of the late Tennessean business reporter Getahn Ward, the university announced Monday.

Natalie Neysa Aland of The Tennessean writes, “Ward, a business reporter at the Tennessean since 1998 known for his real estate scoops, deep sources and bulldog approach, died Dec. 16 after a brief illness. Ward was also a longtime adjunct journalism professor at TSU and a proud alum of the university. He was 45.

“A ceremony will be held Friday at 1 p.m. in the Recital Hall in the university’s Performing Arts Center, according to a TSU news release. A brief room dedication will take place immediately following the ceremony.

“‘This servant leader, journalist, man of faith and professor made a huge impact on our students,’ said Department of Communications Chair Tameka Winston. ‘Naming the multimedia newsroom in his honor is our way of permanently recognizing his contributions to the department.'”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.