UOM Names Journalism School After Hubbard TV and Radio Pioneers

Congratulations to Stanley S. Hubbard and family on being honored for their contributions to journalism by the University of Minnesota. The UOM will rebrand the “J” school the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication to recognize the family’s pioneering history in broadcast news, technical innovations in the industry and generosity.

It’s the first time the University of Minnesota has named a school in the College of Liberal Arts’ 149 year history. Mpls.St.Paul Magazine Publisher Deborah Hopp touched on the Hubbard’s remarkable achievements in a note emailed with the news release.

The Hubbard family is synonymous with media innovation, from creating the first local radio station in 1928, then purchasing the first TV camera ever sold by RCA, to building the first local satellite news truck and gambling first on satellite TV. It is not difficult to argue that the secret to Hubbard Broadcasting is the family itself, now into its third generation of leadership in the industry and the community. Over the years, the Hubbard family has shown much support to not only the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, but the University as a whole.

I was privileged to work as a documentary reporter/director at Hubbard’s flagship station KSTP-TV when legendary founder Stanley E. Hubbard would still make the rounds of the newsroom in a suit and tie and twinkle in his eye. Successor and son Stanley F. Hubbard paid tribute to his father in the announcement.

“As a successful radio pioneer, my father and our founder, Stanley E. Hubbard, was one of the first people to recognize that television could also become an important news medium, said Stanley S. Hubbard, chairman and chief executive officer of Hubbard Broadcasting. “With that recognition, KSTP became the first locally-owned television station in America to provide daily news programs beginning back in 1948. This recognition, provided by one of America’s great schools of journalism, honors the memory of Stanley E. Hubbard in a way which will make all who have been involved from ‘day one’ at KSTP-TV, and all of Hubbard Broadcasting, with local news production forever appreciative.”

Besides television stations in Minnesota, New Mexico and New York, the Hubbards own REELZ Channel cable network and operate an extensive network of radio stations across the country, including 1500ESPN locally. The company headquarters remain just a mile off the university’s Twin Cities campus in close proximity for budding journalists looking for a break.

“The Hubbard family is widely known for its pioneering breakthroughs in journalism, so it’s fitting that our outstanding School of Journalism & Mass Communications should now carry this respected name in Twin Cities and American media,” said University of Minnesota President Eric W. Kaler. “This also recognizes the Hubbard family’s remarkable generosity and support over the years for the University of Minnesota.”