Part 1: CUTV News Radio Welcomes Back Franklin Schurz of Schurz Communications

Bozeman, MT – Franklin Schurz Jr. is the Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Schurz Communications Inc., a media holdings company that publishes the South Bend Tribune and 11 other daily papers.

With close to three decades of professional experience in the publishing industry, Schurz served as president of the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association, the Hoosier State Press Association, the Chesapeake A.P. Association, and the Institute of Newspaper Controllers and Finance Officers.

He has been Editor and Publisher of both the South Bend Tribune in South Bend, Indiana, and the Morning Herald and Daily Mail in Hagerstown, Maryland. Schurz also spent time in broadcasting, serving as President of WDBJ Television, Inc. Roanoke, Virginia; WAGT Television, Inc. Augusta, Georgia; KY3, Inc. Springfield, Missouri; and WASK, Inc. Lafayette, Indiana.

Now retired, Schurz reflects on a career of sustained excellence in the publishing industry.

“The sense of community was really what you made it,” recalls Schurz. “Numbers were not that important, just some common geography, common schools or culture. That’s what bound a community together.”

Unfortunately, the culture of ethical journalism has been replaced. Today, a story on social media can go viral well before any of it has been independently confirmed by any legitimate sourcing. The way people consume news currently creates a false sense of what news is, how a news story is presented and what's important to readers.

Still, Schurz is hopeful we can preserve the role of the press, newspapers and radio stations across the country.