Gardner-Webb President William Downs Hosts Panel to Discuss Media’s Changing Landscape

Local and Regional Journalists will Seek to Answer Questions to Why the Media Still Matters

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.—Podcasts, blogs, social media channels—the media in America and around the world is evolving. To discuss the media’s changing landscape, Gardner-Webb University President Dr. William Downs has invited a panel of local and regional journalists to campus. “Media Matters: News Gatherers and News Changers” will be held on Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. in Tucker Student Center.  

This event will explore the history and ongoing evolution of newsgathering and media coverage through traditional and emerging media. With the group of media professionals, Downs will ask and seek to answer the questions to why the media still matters.   

The discussion will be recorded live in front of an audience of students and others, who will be given an opportunity to ask questions at the end. The recorded program will be available for viewing later on the Gardner-Webb University Facebook Page and YouTube channel and linked on our Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter platforms. 

Invited panelists include: 

• Emma Way is deputy managing editor of the Axios Local news initiative where she oversees teams of reporters in 14 (soon to be 25) cities across the U.S. Before that she served as editor of Axios Charlotte, N.C., (formerly Charlotte Agenda) and editor-in-chief of Charlotte magazine. A native of Delaware, Way has lived in Charlotte for the past six years and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. 

• TJ McCullough, a 2007 GWU alumnus, is market president and publisher at Charlotte Business Journal. He received a degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing and played on the Runnin’ Bulldogs men’s basketball team. A native of Chipley, Fla., McCullough began working for the American City Business Journals (ACBJ) in 2008 as a circulation marketing representative at the Sports Business Journal. He was promoted to circulation sales representative in 2010 and then account sales manager. He joined CBJ in December 2013 as an advertising account executive and was later promoted to advertising director. 

• Mayra Parrilla Guerrero, who goes by “Beatriz Guerrero,” is education reporter for the Gaston (N.C.) Gazette. She is of Puerto Rican and Spanish descent, whose first language is Spanish. Guerrero also has experience in community reporting, especially within the Latinx/Hispanic community. Guerrero attended Johnson C. Smith University and recently obtained a Master of Arts in journalism at Northeastern University (Boston). Outside of the Gazette, she writes in a blog called “Curled Crown,” where her previous work and opinion pieces can be found. 

• Ken Lemon, an award-winning journalist with WSOC-TV in Charlotte, is the current vice president of broadcast for the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), an organization committed to promoting diversity in the media. Lemon’s work includes meeting with executives for major national and international media outlets and ownership groups in all sectors from Viacom and Disney to Facebook and Hollywood Foreign Press Association. He is also chairman of the NABJ Black Male Media Project (#inspireblackmen), former NABJ Region III Director coordinating chapters in 11 states and founding member and two-term president of Charlotte NABJ chapter. For 23 years, Lemon has been the WSOC-TV western bureau chief. He’s earned an Edward R. Murrow Award, three Emmy Awards, two Associated Press awards and two Radio TV Digital News Directors Association Awards. He started in journalism at the age of 13, writing for a local teens magazine in Wilmington, N.C. An alumnus of UNC-Wilmington, he was student body president and served on the UNC-System Student Government Association working for students at all 16 state-supported universities. He also earned several academic and leadership honors including Minority Student of The Year. Lemon is a member of the inaugural class of North Carolina Scholars and served as governor’s page while studying at New Hanover High School in Wilmington, N.C. 

Auxiliary aids will be made available to persons with disabilities upon request 48 hours prior to the event. Please call (704) 406-4253 or email [email protected] with your request. 

Gardner-Webb University is North Carolina’s recognized leader in private, Christian higher education. A Carnegie-Classified Doctoral/Professional University, GWU is home to six professional schools, 14 academic departments, more than 80 undergraduate and graduate majors, and a world-class faculty. Located on a beautiful 225-acre campus in Boiling Springs, N.C., Gardner-Webb prepares graduates to impact their chosen professions, equips them with the skills to advance the frontiers of knowledge, and inspires them to make a positive and lasting difference in the lives of others. Ignite your future at Gardner-Webb.edu.