Most students recognize the name “Jimmy W. Hart” from their MTMail inboxes every week. He’s the voice behind MTSU’s digital newsletter, compiling the week’s most notable local stories and dispersing them to the emails of students across campus. To most other people, though, Hart is more than just a dedicated campus informer — he’s the backbone of a local journalism community.

Hart has acted as MTSU’s senior director of news and media relations for 13 years. He serves as the editor of campus news website MTSUNews.com, through which he aims to ensure that the university community is well informed. 

The news junkie has been a credible contributor and native to the Murfreesboro Daily News Journal for over two decades. He’s held positions in MTSU’s Marketing and Communication division for close to 10 years, making a remarkable impact on the Murfreesboro community as a storyteller. 

“I was always interested in reading newspapers and looking at TV news,” Hart said.   

Born in the small town of Lexington, Tennessee, Hart had a passion for journalism from a young age. He was always fascinated by the evening news, what was happening around the world and local opinions on government actions.

His career in print journalism began at Lexington High School, where he graduated as valedictorian and discovered his drive for journalism through storytelling. Hart’s knack for storytelling was born through writing essays in English classes, where he would seamlessly dive into topics, work through them and anticipate the finished product. 

“Writing is a creative profession,” Hart said.

He considers himself more of an editor than a writer, able to take something and make it better to tell the best story possible. 

During his time in high school, Hart wrote for the student newspaper. He encountered his first professional experience as a journalist after being invited to attend a journalist camp by the newspaper that published his academic success. 

Intrigued by the process, Hart took it a step further. He earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he also wrote for the college newspaper.

A year after he graduated, Hart got an entry-level job doing clerical work while practicing his journalism craft at the Jackson Sun Newspaper in Jackson, Tennessee. Shortly after, he moved into various reporting roles, including positions as assistant editor and city editor for various publications. 

Hart’s Murfreesboro legacy began when he left Jackson in 2006. His first lead editor position was as an executive editor for the Daily News Journal. He managed a staff of 25 journalists and covered local daily news with a few region-wide special publications for six years.

Randy Weiler, a communications specialist in the Office of News and Media Relations who has worked with Hart for nearly 13 years, highlighted the staff and community’s immense respect for him.

Hart established a healthy foundation for his staff that he still nourishes today, Weiler said. 

“Jimmy is a tremendous leader and an outstanding editor,” Weiler said. “He’s highly respected by our staff and Marketing and Communications colleagues, the entire MTSU campus and Murfreesboro communities and midstate media he works with regularly.” 

Hart assumed his current position when he accepted an opening from his former boss and current Vice President of the University’s Marketing and Communications division, Andrew Oppmann, in 2012. Their connection spans back to his position at the Daily News Journal, where Oppmann was the publisher.  

The university’s Division of Marketing and Communications is composed of multiple different areas: News and Media Relations, creative and visual services, staff photography, blueprint solutions and academic marketing. MTSU’s Office of News and Media Relations handles the daily storytelling of the university from a public relations perspective. 

Over the years, Hart’s endless enthusiasm in his position eventually granted him his current title. 

The transition was smooth, “very much like being an editor,” Hart said. His time at the Daily News Journal prepared him for the job, and his journalism background helps him understand the significance of promoting the university’s brand.

As the senior director of the office of news and media relations, Hart oversees public outreach and external relations to the community through multiple forms of journalism. He manages many daily operations within the office and monitors the release of stories on the university news website and university social media. 

The print journalist bases his job structure around storytelling and viewing the university as a newsroom. 

“It’s really about telling good stories,” Hart said. “What my office does now is we go out and cover the university like a newsroom. We’re just out here trying to tell good stories about what the students are doing, projects they’re working on, their academic journeys, the supportive staff we have.”

Hart sees MTSU as a small city where the university president is the mayor of a large community. He explains that all the stories they tell connect the different facets of that community. 

The senior director and three other content specialists facilitate this structure by covering different areas of campus to keep the Murfreesboro community informed.

Hart said his team considers themselves “a tiny piece of documenting and chronicling that journey.” 

“What we put on our website, that’s a historical record,” Hart said.

His team members describe him as an easy-going boss and an effective leader. 

Nancy DeGennaro, School of Journalism alumna and MTSU communication specialist, admires his humor and light approach to editing. 

“He’s funny — one of the best bosses I’ve ever had,” DeGennaro said. “He lets us be very autonomous as writers, he’s not a micromanager. He’s a good leader … Good at interpersonal skills, good at managing situations, very calm and easy-going,” 

Communication specialists send out news releases with the hopes of their stories being published. They give news outlets ideas on what to publish, or influence them to publish their own stories about MTSU. 

They also connect faculty and staff experts to external media for their own stories so they can interview people for particular areas of expertise.

“What we do here has a wider impact on the community and on the state,” Hart said. “We write our content in such a way that they are really comfortable in what they have.”

However, Hart cited the evolution of media that compels the department’s shift in content collecting and their motive of including more packages and video content in their media.  

“Video is a powerful storytelling format that I believe we can take better advantage of to share the many great things happening on our campus,” Hart said.

His department intends to implement its plans next fall, despite an issue with a lack of resources and bandwidth to give viewers what they want.

In the mindset of the future of journalism, the senior director emphasized the vital role storytelling plays in society, and how he worries that the evolution in media harms journalism today.

“Media is what helps people understand the world around them,” Hart said. 

He worries that influencers and video platforms will alleviate the ethic of reliable resources and even deprive editors of their jobs.

In rebuttal, he encourages aspiring journalists to never compromise their ethics. He urges them to hone in on the journalism principles of accuracy, credibility and objectivity during their time in school. 

“At the end of the day, the biggest asset HR has is credibility,” Hart said. “If you have credibility, then you’ll get access to who you need to talk to for the stories you need to do.” 

Despite others’ admiration of his work, he remains humble when reflecting on his legacy, 

“As far as my contributions, it’s more about the contributions of the collective than any individual,” Hart said. “This office, and really our entire Marketing and Communications Division, focuses on storytelling and content production for a very large campus. So there’s always another great story to tell about MTSU.”

Today, Hart enjoys sports and basketball when he’s not working — noting that he follows the Blue Raiders closely. He’s also a very active runner and loves spending time with his wife, four kids and grandkids.

“He’s very family-oriented, his faith is very important to him, he’s very easy-going, and doesn’t get mad,” DeGennaro said, “To know Jimmy is to love Jimmy.”

To contact the News editor, email [email protected].

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