F romANCHOR
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For the past 18 years, CU alum Monte Brown earned a reputation as a valued, accurate and unbiased source of news, thanks to his position as a reporter and ultimately anchorman at KSWO-TV. It was a career that grabbed his attention early on.
hands-on learning. While students at other schools would have to jockey for equipment or studio time, every student at CU had the opportunity daily. That was my biggest factor in choosing Cameron.”
“My fascination with TV news started as a young child,” Monte says. “I remember watching newscasts every day with my grandmother in Bristow. I was drawn to watching local events unfolding live on camera. The reporters and anchors had an opportunity to tell visual stories about amazing people and places.”
He signed on as a student worker with KCCU-FM, where he reported on events at Cameron and issues important to southwest Oklahoma. By his second semester, he jumped at the opportunity to co-anchor the biweekly “Top of the Hour” newscast on CUTV.
After high school, he found work in a corporate call center and did some freelance work for a music website and a monthly entertainment magazine in Tulsa. “It didn’t take long for me to realize that I had a passion for reporting,” he explains. “I knew I wanted to make this my career, but had no idea how to find time for college classes and pay for them while holding down a full-time job. So I took baby steps. Six hours at night to begin with at Tulsa Community College. The next semester I took nine. Then summer classes. ”
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The now-veteran newsman has fond memories of his student days. He speaks highly of the faculty members who mentored him, calling them “some of the best professors in the business.”
After earning an associate's degree in journalism and mass communication, he pondered where to continue his education. Luckily, one of his professors at TCC was familiar with Cameron University, which led Monte to meet with Tony Allison, longtime chair of the CU Department of Communication.
“Our classes were small enough to engage with them one-on-one and large enough to have some memorable group discussions. The more we cared about our work, the more our professors would be there to inspire and challenge us. Steve Adams was my go-to for radio, newswriting and anchoring/reporting, while Dr. Matt Jenkins was, and is, a master of video production. I will never be able to thank them enough for their mentorship.”
“Tony was a great salesman for Cameron! What I remember most was his pledge that I would have endless opportunities for
The skills Monte learned at CU led to a job at KSWO-TV in 2003, while he was still a CU student.
CAMERON UNIVERSITY
