Although the East Tennessean is student-run, the advisers have an important role that enables students to go out and write the stories they are passionate about.
As the East Tennessean celebrates its 100th anniversary, we want to highlight the advisers of past and present for their dedication to both the newspaper itself and ETSU’s community as a whole.
The East Tennessean spoke to four advisers who held the position. The late Dr. Jack Mooney, an iconic member of the Department of Media and Communication, also held the position as a full-time professor.
Jerry Hilliard, 1979-1990
Jerry Hilliard was the adviser for the East Tennessean from 1979-1990. He joined the faculty in summer 1979, right at the tail-end of the creation of the mass communication department. Hilliard was the first full-time professor to advise the East Tennessean.
He was brought onto campus with Murvin Perry, with whom he had worked with at Kent State to run their paper together.
At the time Hilliard worked with the East Tennessean, the paper was written with typewriters.
“We relied on the typesetting machines to write the articles and then take them to be copied and printed,” said Hilliard. “Sometimes when the machines would break down, the only repairman was in Sevierville. He would have to drive to Johnson City in the middle of the night to help fix them. Then, the papers would be printed in Elizabethton, Greeneville and Morristown and delivered overnight.”
One fact about Hilliard’s time with the paper is that his office was nowhere near the East Tennessean office, but he was always there for the students when they needed him. He believes his office to have been where Rogers Stout is today. While he was not near the students in the East Tennessean office in the D.P. Culp Student Center, he did say that the students always knew how to run their own show.
One memory Hilliard looks back on during his time with the East Tennessean is his infamous “green ink.” He remembers that after every publication, he hung the edition on the wall in his office and made corrections to the paper with his green ink pen. He said that while students may have not appreciated it as much then, he was doing this so they could have successful journalism careers later on in life.
After he retired from East Tennessee State University, he worked for The Erwin Record in Erwin, Tennessee, as an associate editor in 2001. Later, he was awarded the title of editor emeritus, a title he looks back on with pride. He now resides in Ohio, leaving the area once he retired.
Hilliard believes that student-run newspapers are very important to helping students further their careers.
“Student-run newspapers are as important to a school community as any local newspaper is to their community. It gives students involvement with the school, and lets them gain experience in their future careers,” said Hilliard.
Hilliard hopes that in the next 100 years, there will still be students striving to publish and present unbiased news to their audiences both on and off campus.
Lise Cutshaw, 1990-1995
Lise Cutshaw served as the adviser for the East Tennessean from 1990-1995. An alumni of ETSU, Cutshaw has had a long career in journalism, working for various publications such as the Johnson City Press, Bristol Herald-Courier and Kingsport Times-News.
A current adjunct instructor at ETSU, Cutshaw said her passion for education and teaching influenced her decision to take on the position as the East Tennessean’s adviser.
“Teaching is kind of in my blood,” said Cutshaw. “I was very much interested in working with young people and also my journalism career.”
Cutshaw was able to continue her work in the field of journalism throughout her years as both an adviser and teacher at ETSU.
Compared to the modern age of social media and digital news, the East Tennessean in the 1990s truly was one of the main sources of communication across campus. Cutshaw shared the lack of modern technology also made a big difference in the process of creating and publishing the newspaper for the students at the time.
“I think they had an especially close bond,” Cutshaw stated. “We spent many nights — all night long —until 4 or 5 in the morning, just putting together the twice weekly newspaper. They were together, and ate together and slept together on the floor.”
Cutshaw also remembered the East Tennessean’s investigative journalism being an influential part of the newspaper’s reputation during her time as adviser.
“They were very much investigative journalists back in those days,” said Cutshaw. “If they heard something was going on in the hierarchy or among students that needed to be managed better by the administration, they were very interested in covering those things. At that time, the East Tennessean definitely contributed to a lot of awareness on campus of issues that could conceivably affect students.”
Cutshaw still works in the journalism field today as both a writer and editor. She firmly believes in the importance of student journalism and the East Tennessean.
“I believe that every campus needs a newspaper,” Cutshaw said.
Martha Milner, 1995-2014
Martha Milner was the adviser for the East Tennessean from 1995-2014. She saw the rise in technology, including upgrades in computers and software. Milner was there when the East Tennessean had their first online print.
“Some of the biggest things for some of the technological changes, seeing changes in the technology, the software, computers, going online and having an online edition,” said Milner.
Milner started her journalism career nine years before being the adviser to the East Tennessean. She saw an ad in the Bristol Herald Courier to be the adviser. She wanted to learn how to teach students more about the field of journalism.
“I think that is important to working with students in higher education — being open to constantly learning and to learning from your students,” Milner said.
She said that it has changed her perspective on student journalism and how she teaches her students about the newspaper business.
One of the hardest things about being adviser is that she and the East Tennessean had to make tough decisions over the content. Milner said they had to realize the impact of what they publish because unlike community newspapers, college newspapers tend to explore deeper topics.
“I think we had to make decisions sometimes over content, you know, content that we knew may make someone mad or, you know, upset someone,” said Milner. “And so you had to really think about those kinds of things.”
Among topics extensively covered during her time with the East Tennessean were the Student Government Association, parking student fees and large events like concerts.
Milner explained many students would give negative feedback about the stories. She said that it was part of the business, and she had to teach her students that.
A story from a student is when the first Student Government Association concert, Ludacris, came to ETSU, caused quite a stir with the community. Many churches and others in the community did not like the content of the rapper.
Milner talked about how one of her students, an editor, Deirdre Newman, created a comic called “Ludacrisis.” Milner applauded her student’s creativity and initiative to tell a story of the community.
Milner said her favorite thing about working with the student newspaper like the East Tennessean is watching the students grow as writers and as people. Many of her students have gone on to bigger news agencies and have reached out to Milner to thank her for her support. They would connect via Facebook or phone.
“You know, I think the best thing about working with the student newspaper and the best thing about working with, you know, the East Tennessean and even, you know, the paper that I work with now is getting to know students and watching them grow and develop,” said Milner.
Milner remembers her students very distinctively. Her favorite story with the East Tennessean was about Amanda Milstead. Milstead covered the crosswalks on campus and the trend of accidents associated with them. After the story was published, the university started to change the crosswalks.
“I think that that was really important from a journalistic standpoint because, you know what you like to see,” said Milner. “I think one of the things that good journalism does is it brings about change. It gets people to think about things that are happening.”
One of Milner’s students is the current adviser, Don Armstrong, who was in one of her classes during Milner’s time at ETSU.
Milner had been with students through many difficult news times for the university and country, including 9/11. Although journalists cover difficult topics, Milner was there to help guide her students. She was always available for students through her cell phone, because she wanted her students to know that she was there for them.
“You know sometimes there’s some really you know tough things that you have to report and you know it’s not easy to do and I think having those conversations and being present in the moment and being available for students,” said Milner.
She hopes that the East Tennessean will thrive for another 100 years. She knows how important the East Tennessean has been to the students and campus life.
With her time at the East Tennessean, she learned a lot from the students, faculty and staff. Dr. Jack Mooney and Dr. Jerry Hilliard inspired her and her students to be a better journalist. Candy Naff, the business manager of the East Tennessean for 30 years from 1984-2014, inspired her because of Naff’s work in the business and advertising for the paper. She said that the legacy of the East Tennessean would not be the same without them.
Milner continued to work in the journalism business. She has been in the business for 28 years. She currently works as the student media executive director and student publications director at Indiana State University.
Don Armstrong, 2014-present
Don Armstrong has been the adviser for the East Tennessean since 2014. He has seen campus life change in many different ways, especially the renovations to the D.P. Culp Student Center. The Culp Center is home to the Student Media Center, which was created as part of the Culp renovation project.
He is the first to hold the title of director of student media and works alongside office supervisor, Trish Caughran. Both started with the East Tennessean in fall 2014.
Armstrong worked at the Johnson City Press for 17 years prior to coming to ETSU. During his time at the publication, he covered the inauguration of former President Barack Obama and the 2011 tornadoes of Greene County, Tennessee.
“Working with student life and campus has done nothing but provide a positive outlook because you get to work with students on a daily basis and watch them practice the craft of journalism,” said Armstrong. “I always say this, but it’s going to serve them well no matter what their career goal is going to be.”
Armstrong said that the East Tennessean is made up of a variety of students with different majors spanning from media and communication to nursing to thermodynamic engineering. Throughout his time with the publication, he has seen a change in the way journalism is perceived digitally.
“The publication continues to be a reflection of the profession, and by that I mean, as little as eight years ago there wasn’t as much emphasis as now on social media, on bringing in aspects of video,” said Armstrong. “Working for a newspaper is not just writing, it is not just photography in the 2023 world, and the East Tennessean brings in all those aspects to stay relevant.”
He noted that journalism is an ever-evolving landscape, and that the demands on time are ever-increasing, especially in the media industry. Though these demands have increased over the years, Armstrong has found that the quality of work coming from students has remained the same.
“The quality of work that students put out has been consistent. I wish I could take credit for that – I encourage and support it – but that still falls on the students to create quality work,” said Armstrong.
Armstrong said that the East Tennessean has a huge impact on campus life. He said the publication is a reflection of campus life spanning from covering big events to pressing issues in students’ lives.
“[The East Tennessean] shines a light on what is happening on campus, it keeps readers informed whether that be students, faculty and staff or the community,” said Armstrong. “I think that the East Tennessean is there to serve as a campus voice and I think its duty is to reflect what is going on around campus.”
Armstrong said that the publication would be nothing without its student staff.
“It’s all the work of our students,” said Armstrong. “I’m there to sort of push that work, be a supporter of that work, give advice when it’s warranted, but it’s really, it’s in the title: ‘the student-run newspaper of ETSU’.”
As the publication advances into the future, Armstrong said he sees the publication continuing to evolve. He said that the East Tennessean will continue to follow the trends that appear in the industry.
“In the short amount of time that I have been here – less than a decade – it continues to change, and I don’t say change for change’s sake, but it is a necessary change to keep evolving,” said Armstrong. “The East Tennessean must reflect these trends in the industry to stay relevant and to allow students to get the best experience.
“What I like to tell students is that we are as reflective as possible of a professional publication,” he added. “Another way of saying that is students should view themselves not as college journalists but journalists who happen to be in college.”
As Armstrong reflects on his time with the East Tennessean, he notes how he felt in the beginning stages. He said that he knew that his position would be challenging but could never have imagined how rewarding it would be.
