Missouri Press Association
Serving Missouri Newspapers Since 1867
Roxie Murphy is the Missouri Press Foundation’s new Newspapers In Education (NIE) coordinator, replacing Helen Headrick, who retired March 31.
Murphy, assistant editor of Warden Publishing and president of the Show-Me Press Association, is passionate about NIE.
“I’ve used newspapers to encourage students to learn more about what is happening in their communities, to think critically about events and the way news is collected and collaborated by reporters,” she said. “NIE is about taking the opportunity to provide content and show educators how to bolster their lessons with real-world examples that support media literacy while developing lifelong readers.”
Since 2023, Murphy has used her role as a reporter and assistant editor to encourage school districts to enter into a collaboration with local newspapers and begin or resurrect high school journalism programs.
“In 2025, a colleague and I began Emerging Student Newspapers, a program that works to create high school journalism curriculum,” she said. “The purpose is to use newspapers as a teaching tool, encouraging media literacy, critical thinking, and promoting civic understanding at the high school level.”
At the high school level, Warden Publishing’s Gasconade County Republican staff collaborated with Kathy Kiely, the Lee Hills Chair in Free Press Studies at the Missouri School of Journalism, to provide a full-day student workshop, complete with presentations about what news is and a half-day photography session.
“At the elementary level, I’ve visited with fourth and fifth graders about what it means to be a reporter, encouraged them to ask questions about how a reporter finds information, and not trust that what they saw on the internet to be true,” Murphy said. “By sharing what sources are credible research, students learn what to look for when researching topics. They learn fast that a picture is worth a thousand words.
“Additionally, our newspaper publishes NIE’s serial stories as they are available for teachers to use as tools in the classroom.”
Headrick became the MPF’s NIE coordinator in July 2017 after a stint at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as the NIE manager. She also taught in a St. Louis-area Archdiocesan school, where NIE was a key part of her curriculum.
“I have loved every minute of it,” she said. “Writing educational features, updating older ones, and researching educational trends for the NIE program wasn’t just a job, it was a duty. I always tried to find ways to reinforce the need and habit for students to read their area newspapers. First to learn about their neighborhoods and about the wider world, second to learn about how the world and nation work, and third how they can contribute to those efforts.”
Chad Stebbins, MPA executive director, said he was pleased that Missouri Press will continue to provide an NIE program.
“Only a couple of state press associations still have an NIE program,” Stebbins said. “We were delighted when Roxie said she was interested in becoming our new coordinator. The program is going to be in great hands. At the same time, we certainly appreciate everything Helen did to get us to this level.”
“Encouraging readers to develop an educational relationship with their local newspapers through the NIE program is a role I have always wanted,” Murphy said. “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute to this program’s success. Hopefully, we can create a few scrapbook-worthy memories along the way.”
