Former WKMS reporter and current NPR reporter
Jim Burress 
came back to Murray State University to talk
about business news and life in the journalism
world.
With the theme “Show Me the Money: Topics
in Business Journalism,” Burress, senior
reporter for NPR station WABE 90.1 FM in Atlanta,
Georgia, spoke to journalism and business
students about his work, much of which concentrates
on areas of business journalism.
I kind of by default became a business reporter
it wasn't what i set out to do but somebody
always told me that every story is a business
story and i started to see how that played
out in my daily reporting
While on campus, Burress took the time to
speak to class in the Journalism department
and answer any questions students might have
about his career or life in the news world.
Burress also stopped by his old stomping grounds,
WKMS, to chat with me on air.
A Louisville native, Burress holds a bachelor’s
degree in English from Wabash College in
Indiana and a master’s in mass communication
from Murray State University. He started his
public radio career at Murray State’s NPR
station WKMS
I started in TV and I really didn't much care
for it after awhile and I thought that my
journalism career was basically over as a
reporter so I came to murray state because
I wanted to be a journalism professor and
so this was kind of the next point in that
to get my masters degree and it just so happened
that WKMS needed somebody as a stringer just
kind of part time and as a grad student it
give me the opportunity to make a little extra
money it was a good one and from that first
assignment I kind of fell in love with the
radio because it was allowing me to do things
that television never had before. I could
really explore a character I could use that
person's voice to tell a story and so I got
all of this great experience that cemented
what the reason I got into journalism to begin
with and I fell in love with that that part
time job turned into a full time job at WKMS
and then I went on from there
Burress moved to Atlanta to work on his Ph.D.,
but after a year away from reporting, he realized
he preferred the newsroom to the classroom.
He started at WABE in spring 2008.
I started as a producer/reporter and then
worked myself up to back up host/reporter,
weekend host/reporter and now senior reporter
Burress is frequent contributor to the public
radio program “Marketplace,” he also
reports regularly for NPR’s “Morning
Edition” and “All Things Considered.”
For those looking to go into the journalism
profession, Burress left a few pieces of advice.
Nobody knows that you don't know what you're
dong unless you show people you don't know
what you're doing so this idea of having a
confidence that you're just going to fake
it until you learn on the job and you make
it if nobody catches on you're set and my
secret it is I'm still faking it if I don't
think I'm doing something right I try it and
sometimes it fails sometimes I succeed but
each opportunity a way to further my craft
i would never tell somebody i don't know how
to do something first i'll at least try it
first and see if i succeed
