Journalism & Public Relations

2007 News Hall of Fame Inductees

Ty Barbour

Ty Barbour

Ty, an Orion photographer in the mid-‘70s, fell in love with the camera at age 12.  A long photojournalism career at the Chico Enterprise-Record has allowed this sixth-generation Californian to leave a mark on the Butte County community.  From his early days as a photographer shooting a 4x5 Speed Graphic with flash bulbs, to today’s digital, magical cameras, Ty says one thing holds true: making a good image is in your eye and mind first and in your camera second.

John Hetherington

John R. Hetherington

John (1927-2007) was The Orion’s first adviser from 1975-81. After earning a bachelor’s degree in radio broadcasting from USC and a master’s from Chico State, John became country ‘n’ western disc jockey Johnny Holiday in Phoenix. He later was a public relations practitioner, news director for KPAY radio in Chico, and a reporter-photographer for The Sacramento Bee. While teaching at Chico State, John received the California Newspaper Publishers Association’s Outstanding Journalism Professor of the Year award.

Randy Sumimoto

Randy Sumimoto

Randy was the weekend sports editor of the San Jose Mercury News. He was enrolled at Chico State from 1985-89 and obtained a bachelor’s degree in communications. His first newspaper experience was on The Orion, where he worked as a news writer, features editor, sports writer and editor-in-chief over five semesters.  His professional newspaper career has been spent almost entirely in sports, with stops at the Colusa County Sun-Herald, Hanford Sentinel, Gilroy Dispatch, Fresno Bee and the Mercury News. Randy died of cancer in 2015 at the age of 50.

Art Thompson III

Art Thompson III

An athlete in high school and junior college, Art focused on sports writing upon transferring to Chico State in 1976. For The Orion, he rose from staff writer to sports editor to associate editor, before earning a communications degree, with emphasis in print and broadcast journalism. His award-winning career has included stints at The Modesto Bee, Tucson Citizen, Arizona Daily Star, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and, since 1988, at The Orange County Register, where he covers the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers.