Greg Gapsis, adjunct lecturer in journalism, said he has had many rewarding, rich experiences as a daily beat reporter.

As a general assignment reporter for The Jeffersonville Evening News, Gapsis covered many interesting stories, from murder trials to people who survived plane crashes.

He said one of the most fascinating things about being a journalist is, aside from the first responders, reporters are the only people allowed inside the yellow tape.

“News is a tapestry of a community’s values and concerns,” Gapsis said.

“To be a participant in that, you develop relationships that are valuable, enduring and that remain productive.”

He said you can either catch hell or you can gain respect from a lot of important people.

“You’re the public trustee and the public observer,” Gapsis said.

Gapsis grew up in the Midwest and went to college in the Northwest. He graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle and stayed out of school for while. He went back to graduate school and earned a degree in law from Tulane University in New Orleans. 

He said building relationships, reporting and interviewing others are rich
experiences.

Gapsis was invited to teach at IU Southeast by Jim St. Clair, professor of journalism, when he took St. Clair’s class at the Kentucky Press Association. He was also working as a daily beat reporter at the time.

“Jim St. Clair was a mentor of mine,” he said.

Gapsis said St. Clair knew he had a background in law but when he expressed an interest in a late career change to journalism, St. Clair asked him if he could help and teach a few courses at IU Southeast in 2004.

Gapsis originally came to IU Southeast to teach communications law but since then he has expanded, teaching courses in reporting, writing and editing and mass communication.

“I find teaching tremendously rewarding,” he said.

Gapsis said his favorite subject to teach is mass
communication.

“Mass communication is so influential on our culture, politics and public policy and because it’s so rapidly changing,” he said.

He said mass communication combines all of the traditional mass media.

He said he likes teaching it because newspapers, film, radio, television and the digital innovations of the Internet that is affecting every one of these.

“It’s like a tidal wave rolling through our culture,”
he said.

He also said everyone has a part in mass communication in college, whether as a passive consumer or as a professional.

Gapsis said he likes the journalism program at IU Southeast because of its growth and engagement.

“I like the journalism program because it exists and attracts a lot of curious minds that bring healthy skepticism to the world that they live in,” he said. “It is a unique academic  community in this region.”

Gapsis said he would like his students to have an understanding of how advertising dominates culture and is trying to consume people’s choices and values.

“One has to intentionally be able to develop a distance and take a step back to make intelligent decisions and I want my students to be aware of this,” he said.

Gapsis’ hobbies include cooking, cycling and gardening.

“I’m a bread-baking nut right now,” he said. “I like to cook.”

He said he cooks for his family and likes to experiment cooking in the kitchen with his one of his daughters.

He has two teenage daughters and he said he has spent some past years as “Mr. Mom.”

“I used to say they would either keep me young or kill me early, but now I have gotten old enough to where I have realized it would probably be both,” he said.

When the weather is nice he said he will cycle from his house to IU Southeast, which is 12 miles away.

To celebrate his birthday in 2007, Gapsis rode his bike from New Albany to Niagara Falls in three weeks, taking nothing but his camping gear.

He said he has started to get involved with some gardening with his wife and plans to build his first greenhouse this year.

By NATALIE DEDAS
Staff Writer
natdedas@ius.edu