Radio Executive, Native American Journalist Join Hall of Fame

A national radio executive and a ground-breaking Native American journalist will be the newest inductees into the Cronkite School Alumni Hall of Fame. Susan Karis and Mary Kim Titla will be recognized Nov. 14 at the school’s 23rd Annual Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism Lunch. “Both Susan Karis and Mary Kim Titla are leaders in their fields and great role models for our students,” said Cronkite Dean Christopher Callahan. “We are thrilled to be able to honor Susan as the first radio professional and Mary Kim as the second online media professional to become members of our Hall of Fame.” Karis, executive vice president of operations, western region for Clear Channel Radio, is a 1980 graduate of the Cronkite School. Karis, who serves on Clear Channel Radio’s national executive leadership team, oversees the company’s radio stations in 78 markets across the western region of the United States, with direct oversight in cities such as Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, Houston, Dallas, Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Jose and Denver. Karis has worked in the radio industry for 25 years. During her career she has worked for Roslin Radio, Western Cities Broadcasting, Nationwide Communications and Jacor Communications. She is a member of the Cronkite Endowment Board and American Women in Radio & Television. Titla, who received her masters of mass communication from the Cronkite School in 1985, operates NativeYouthMagazine.com, a Web magazine that focuses on the talents and lifestyles of native youth in the United States and Canada. The site, which started last year and averages more than 1,100 visits a day, has already won several awards, including first place for Best Web site from the Native American Journalists Association, first place for Web creation/development from the Arizona Press Women’s Association and third place from the National Press Women’s Association in the same category among mainstream Websites. Before launching the magazine, Titla, the first Native American television news reporter in Arizona, worked as a general assignment reporter at 12 News in Phoenix and KVOA-TV in Tucson. She won first place awards for her television news coverage from The Associated Press, the Arizona Press Club and the Native American Journalists Association. Titla is a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. Karis and Titla are the 38th and 39th members of the Cronkite Alumni Hall of Fame. They join ABC sportscaster Al Michaels, Washington Post Assistant Managing Editor Don Podesta, Wall Street Journal correspondent Pamela Sebastian, Fox11 – Los Angeles anchor Christine Devine, ABC News correspondent Bill Redeker and Jayne Clark of USA Today.