Faculty

Pate McMichael

Professional-in-Residence, News

Adviser to The Orion(opens in new window)

Contact

Email: wpmcmichael@csuchico.edu
Phone: 530-898-4782
Office: Tehama Hall 345

Office Hours: Monday 2:00-4:00 p.m.

                            Tuesday 11 a.m.-Noon

                            Wednesday 2:30-3:30 p.m. (PLMS 001)

                            *Also available by appointment

Website: www.patemcmichael.com(opens in new window)

Education

MA in journalism, University of Missouri-Columbia

BA in history, University of Georgia

Professional Experience

Pate McMichael is the author of Klandestine(opens in new window): How a Klan Lawyer and a Checkbook Journalist Helped James Earl Ray Cover Up His Crime(Chicago Review Press, 2015) and : Stolen Valor Behind Enemy Lines During World War II (2019).(opens in new window) His work has been anthologized in Words Matter(opens in new window) (University of Missouri Press, 2016) and The Bitter Southerner Reader, Vol. 3 (2019). For 15 years, he has worked as a freelance journalist, publishing long-form narratives in Atlanta Magazine, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Bitter Southerner, Zocalo Public Square, Lake Oconee Living, Georgia Backroads, Athens Magazine, and St. Louis Magazine. He interned with The Brownsville Herald on the U.S.-Mexico border and also worked as a student reporter for the Columbia Missourian and Vox magazine.  

 

From 2007-2019, Pate taught journalism at Georgia College, a public liberal arts university where he advised the student newspaper, The Colonnade, at the rank of senior lecturer. His students received national, regional, and statewide recognition during his tenure. 

Course Specialties

JOUR 321, Public Affairs Reporting

JOUR 327, Media Editing, Proofreading & Entry-level Layout

JOUR 329, The Orion, staff

JOUR 331, The Orion, management

Professional Achievement & Development

In 2016, Pate gave a reading of Klandestine(opens in new window) at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis on the 48th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s murder. In 2009, he was named a finalist for The Livingston Awards for Young Journalists. His work has twice been recognized with a Magazine Association of the Southeast’s GAMMA award.

 

Pate has published in the College Media Advisers’ journal(opens in new window) and presented at its national conferences in New York City and Washington, D.C. For more than a decade, he has participated in the American Democracy Project’s Times Talks series, moderating public conversations based on stories with First Amendment significance published by The New York Times.

Research Interests

Student media, narrative journalism, media law, public affairs and investigative reporting.