(Featured photo: Dr. Philip Patterson – Courtesy photo)
Dr. Philip Patterson was the guest speaker in Oklahoma Community College’s Journalism and Broadcasting program in the last week of March.
While Patterson was on campus, he talked to a classroom of inspiring journalists to tell them his own story.
Patterson has received an extensive education from multiple renowned universities.
He went to Lubbock Christian University to get his B.A. in Religion. After that, he went to Abilene Christian University to get his Masters in Mass Communication. Lastly, he graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Ph.D. in Political Communication.
He has been a Professor of Journalism at Oklahoma Christian University for over four decades.
Patterson is well versed in the journalism and education realms.
Throughout his life, he has stayed involved with both fields and succeeded successfully in both areas. As Patterson puts it, “even though I’ve taught continuously for 41 years, I’ve been an avid journalist.”
As a journalist, Patterson has worked for some of the biggest and best companies in the world.
While he was teaching, he simultaneously worked for the Daily Oklahoman for fifteen years. Being a journalist is a full time job, but so is being a professor. However, Philip Patterson has managed to work at both of these jobs and excel at them. This achievement alone shows his capability and work ethic.
Another company he has worked for is the New York Times.
“I’ve done two summers with the New York Time wire service, specifically in Sarasota. What I was doing there was really interesting. The Sarasota Herald Tribune, which is the third largest paper in the New York Times chain, had put a television newsroom into the print journalism newsroom. I was there to cross train journalist. [Specifically] to teach print journalists how to do a video story and a video package and a video journalist how to do a print story,” Patterson said.
Besides being highly notable in the journalism world, Mr. Patterson is also a published author. As of Sprimg 2022, he has published nineteen books and is currently working on his twentieth. Ten of the nineteen books are about the concept of media ethics. The remaining nine books are about Christianity.
Outside of journalism and being an author, Patterson is an innovative educator.
The newest project Philip Patterson is a part of is helping educate prisoners.
“I’m pioneering our program at Mabel Bassett Correctional Facility. Where we are going to offer a complete associate of science degree. In my department we all come together and teach a section of speech sometime in the two year cycle. And so I was always teaching speech every other year. And they asked me to be the lead facility member out at Mabel Bassett,” Patterson said.
The project allows prisoners who are sentenced to extensive jail time to undergo an education so that once they get out of jail they can better settle into society and might find better jobs.
This education program’s hope is to get prisoners their associate’s degree so that life will be just a bit easier when they rejoin society.
“I will tell you it has been the pinnacle of my teaching career. There is nothing more exciting than asking a question and watching sixteen hands go up,” Patterson said of his experience at Mabel Bassett Correctional Facility.
There is no doubt that Patterson has already had a successful career.
It will be exciting to see what all comes from his latest project at Mabel Bassett and what he does next.
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