If you didn’t go there, you probably know someone who did. The University of Missouri’s School of Journalism is one of the top programs in the country. And today the school has announced Stacey Woelfel, an associate professor and news director at KOMU-TV for the last 24 years, has been named the first director of the new Jonathan Murray Documentary Journalism Center.
The Murray Documentary Journalism Center is named for Jonathan Murray, the co-creator of MTV’s The Real World, Road Rules, and the Oxygen’s The Bad Girls Club. Earlier this month, Murray, a 1977 graduate of MU, donated $6.7 million to create the Center.
Woelfel will leave his job as news director of the NBC affiliate in September.
“Getting to know Stacey, I’ve been impressed by his quiet determination to get this documentary journalism program off the ground,” Murray said. “Stacey’s successful track record at the J-School and KOMU-TV, and his appreciation for what goes into making a great documentary, make him uniquely qualified to run the center and I am confident he’s the perfect person to pull together the necessary elements to make this an outstanding program.”
The new program will offer a bachelor of journalism degree beginning in the Fall of 2015, as well as a master of arts degree. The Center will also fund research in the field of documentary journalism. Coursework will focus on the history, business models, advocacy and advanced production of documentary journalism.