70 years in, CoJMC alum continues reporting and teaching

Wednesday, October 31, 2018 - 3:00pm

By Bill Riccetti

 

            In times like these, when the news media is under fire by critics and cynics, it is important to remember that there are reporters who have dedicated their lives to providing well researched news that is engaging, honest and eye-opening.

            One of these reporters, who happens to be among the best in the business, came from Nebraska.

            “I believe my experience at the University of Nebraska deepened my fascination with scholarship, and taught me that being a serious student of whatever subject I would cover as a journalist was vital to success in that field,” said Lyle Denniston, journalist and CoJMC alum. “I have continued to be what I consider to be a very active scholar throughout my career; the substance of what I actually write about as a journalist is only the surface of what fascinates me about ideas and learning.”

            Denniston, 87,  has written a lot of news. He graduated in 1955 with a journalism major and a political science minor. He later went on to Georgetown University to earn a master’s degree in American History with a minor in political science.

            While at Nebraska, Denniston worked at the Lincoln Journal.

            “I would go to work in the morning, go to the campus for classes and then back to the Journal in late afternoon,” Denniston said.  "It was a challenging schedule, but every part of it was a reward.”

            His reporting assignments for the Journal were wide ranging.

            “Perhaps the most challenging work I did for the Journal was to chase tornadoes when tornado weather was occurring,” Denniston said. “I would join a photographer and we would go out to the scenes where the storms had hit and cover the aftermath.”

            Denniston wrote for SCOTUSblog, an online blog featuring news and analysis of the Supreme Court. He continued to work in newspaper journalism -- with a primary focus on covering the courts and legal subjects -- until 2004.

            Currently Denniston writes about the Supreme Court for Constitution Daily, the online blog of the National Constitution Center.

            After giving a lecture as a visiting professor in 2016 at the University of Baltimore Law School, Denniston decided to turn that lecture into an online course. With the help of his wife, lawyer Pamela Haughton-Denniston, he created a course called “The Supreme Court and American Politics.”

            “In preparing the class, I wrote what I believe to be about a full book-length of study material,” Denniston said.

            The course was launched on Oct. 1 through the University of Baltimore Law School and it had nearly 400 students signed up. Most of the students who signed up are from foreign countries.

            Back when Denniston was attending school at Nebraska some things were different including the name of the college, the School of Journalism in the College of Arts and Sciences,  but the ideas and values have remained the same. Denniston said he hopes that the newer students continue having high standards.

            “My only advice to current students of journalism is to become deeply serious about learning, and realize that writing intelligently about any subject requires a firm and abiding commitment to learn that subject, from end to end,” Denniston said.  “It is also most important, I think, for students to develop an appetite for deep and extended research, rather than depending upon telephone interviews for one-shot exploration of the news.”

            When he finally retires, Denniston said he hopes to write a book or two about the Supreme Court.

            “I am trying to cut back in hopes of actually being retired after 70 years in journalism,” Denniston said.

Lyle Denniston
Lyle Denniston