Roush named journalism teacher of the year
Chris Roush, associate professor and Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Scholar in Business Journalism, was named journalism teacher of the year in the Scripps Howard Foundation’s National Journalism Awards.
Roush teaches economics reporting, where his students track real stock portfolios, and business reporting, where students participate in mock news conferences with business students playing corporate CEOs.
“Chris is the kind of faculty member every dean would like to clone,” said Jean Folkerts, UNC journalism dean, in a letter nominating Roush. “He gets excellent student evaluations. His students get great jobs.”
One of Roush’s main goals is to teach students that business journalism is a valuable and exciting field.
“People are affected by business in their lives every day, and they don’t even realize it,” Roush said. “I think my job is to teach students that it’s not boring; it’s about people and it’s about issues.”
Roush does his best to simulate a real working environment in the classroom. He asks students to call him by his first name and treats them like reporters.
Roush said technology is important for preparing students. He has created blogs and Web sites for his students and stresses online skills in class.
Roush has written several books on business journalism. His students have gone on to work for news organizations such as The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News and Reuters.
He writes the blog Talking Biz News.
Scripps Howard Foundation Wire reporter Erich Hiner contributed this report.