5 Questions: Tim Ryan, Retired Journalist and News Director

After four decades at the forefront of American journalism, Tim Ryan has traded the newsroom for the classroom—and a personal mission to unravel the mysteries of human behavior through history. With a career that spanned from small-town reporting to executive news leadership at major stations like 9NEWS in Denver and KVUE in Austin, Ryan witnessed firsthand how the news shaped—and was shaped by—our collective story.

Now retired from daily journalism, he brings that same curiosity and dedication to his newest role: part-time U.S. history professor at Metropolitan State University and full-time seeker of answers to the age-old question, why do people do what they do? We sat down with Tim to reflect on his remarkable career, what it’s like to be Kyle Clark’s boss, his pivot to teaching and what history can teach us about the world we’re still trying to make sense of.

You were in television news for decades. What were the biggest changes you witnessed over the years?

The biggest changes that happened during my 40 years in journalism related to changes in technology. This affected both the way we gather news and the way each individual news consumer receives it.

When I started working in my first TV newsroom in 1984, we didn’t have widespread access to computers, let alone mobile or smartphones. We typed our scripts for news reports using a multi-page “pack” so that the anchor would have one copy, the director a copy, the producer a copy and so on, so that everyone could follow the same plan. This was still true (briefly) when I started at 9NEWS in August 1991, but a few months later we started using computers and the world has never been the same.

Over time, the wireless revolution eventually resulted in being able to deliver live reports from the field using hardware contained in a backpack (or even a single cell phone) instead of the large TV trucks (microwave and satellite). Even today, TV stations still use those trucks because they’re often more reliable than the broadband technology that supports the phones and backpacks. 

What are your thoughts on the challenges the news industry is experiencing today?

Those advances in technology improved journalism while at the same time sowing the seeds of its biggest challenge: audience disruption. Just as journalists could now use smartphone technology for newsgathering, people in the audience could use them to get their news, and this now makes it unnecessary to wait for a scheduled TV newscast, radio newscast or printed newspaper to hit their driveway.

This has shaken the economics of journalism, as far fewer people watch scheduled newscasts or pay to receive a newspaper. This will continue to affect journalism and audiences in the future, but it’s my belief that professional journalism is still critical, regardless of how you receive it and how that newsgathering is paid for. I admire those on the business side of journalism who are working to solve this difficult problem, because journalism does matter.

It matters because so much information shared via the Internet or social media is either fabricated for effect or twisted to suit various agendas. Today, there is unquestionably a sustained and constant assault on professional journalism by those who see it as interfering with their goals. The strategy is quite clear: Repeatedly use the phrase “fake news” to describe legitimate journalism so that it eventually becomes illegitimate, clearing the way for actual falsehoods to rule the world. Like most things we think are new, this idea goes way back. A Boston newspaper in 1808 printed an anonymous column called “Thoughts” that sums up the result: “Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping after it.” As rough as the marketplace of ideas has become, and I can’t overestimate just how rough it is, Americans should resist all efforts to have the government control the news. Journalism must remain separate from and critical of the government, regardless of which person or party is in charge of it. This is hard work, but critical for a successful democracy. 

What was it like being Kyle Clark’s boss?    

It’s fascinating to watch Kyle work. He is as diligent and hardworking as anyone I’ve met, so he starts engaging in journalism when he wakes up and does so until he goes to sleep.

The kind of journalism Kyle practices results in him telling it like it is using his own personal style, and this results in feedback from many people who don’t like what he says or how he says it. For those who think that’s new, read about Edward R. Murrow’s effort to confront Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s red-scare tactics of the 1950s, Murrow’s classic documentary about migrant workers (“Harvest of Shame,” 1960) or Walter Cronkite’s commentary in February 1968 during which he concluded that Vietnam would not end in American victory but that an honorable peace was the only solution.

All of these giants of American journalism received harsh feedback about the nature of their content. If journalism is nothing more than repeating what people in positions of authority say with no critical analysis, it isn’t doing its job.

Kyle’s work is in the spirit of Murrow and Cronkite and all the many talented journalists who came before him. It’s clear that Kyle believes deeply in the need to hold people in positions of authority accountable and also highlight the danger that lies in simply passing along what they say without challenging it. He’s also a devoted husband and father and wants to improve this community through his work.

You are now teaching history at MSU Denver.  What can we learn from history to help us navigate today’s issues?  

I’ve always loved history. Also, there’s no question that history repeats itself. For instance, we live in a time that seems more contentious than any other time, until you ponder for a moment the disruption associated with the American Civil War or the public turmoil of the 1960s relating to Vietnam and the Civil Rights Movement.

The difficult thing about living in a moment is that you don’t know how the moment is going to end. We now have the benefit of perspective about these momentous issues of the past that we don’t have about the present moment because it hasn’t played out yet.

That’s why I love reading and teaching history: to learn from where we’ve been in an effort to apply it to making the world a better place. I will also say that there isn’t a single way of looking at history, because the events of the past don’t change, but our understanding of them does.

I’m both curious about history and also bewildered by it, because there’s so much to it and understanding it all can be overwhelming. But I believe if more people tried, there would be a greater understanding of our current world and how to improve it.

How’s retirement working out and what’s next for you? 

I spent 40 years working a long day and paying close attention to the local news wherever I lived. Of that time, 30 of those years were in Denver. For the first time I can remember, I have the freedom of time, although I will say “retirement” is also busier than I expected.

In addition to teaching a single history course at MSU Denver for the past two semesters, I focus time on my personal health, reading and watching as many things as I can and spending time with my family. I’ve also traveled more in the past year than I ever have. In fact, as I write this I’m in the middle of a week-long trip to California, visiting friends along with national parks and museums.

As for what’s next, I intend to continue teaching and have various ideas for writing and video projects, both fiction and non-fiction. All of these will require patience and discipline, so wish me luck. As we used to say in the old days, stay tuned!