The Sun News’ top editor retiring

Carolyn Callison Murray, editor and vice president of news for The Sun News, will retire next month, capping an award-winning, 40-year journalism career.

Murray has spent the last 15 years at The Sun News, taking the newsroom’s top spot in 2011 after an extensive search and leading the staff through a challenging time for the news business.

She said she’s eager to start the next chapter in her life, and is proud of the journalists she’s mentored through the years.

“I’m most proud of this team,” Murray said. “They continued to produce excellent journalism for their community and readers despite all the pressures from the changes in our business and the economy.

“The thing I will most miss is working with this great group of people.”

The process of recruiting the next leader of the newsroom will start immediately, said Mark Webster, president and publisher of The Sun News. Murray’s last day is Oct. 9.

“Carolyn’s leadership throughout an ever-changing environment of news gathering and dissemination has proved invaluable,” Webster said. “Our readers have found her to be an engaging editor who kept them abreast of updates and regularly asked for their feedback. She will be truly missed as a colleague and a news leader in our community.”

Murray’s career spans both coasts and includes a collection of awards as well as a spot last year as part of the judging panel for the Pulitzer Prizes. She graduated from the University of Missouri in Columbia – which boasts one of the country’s premier journalism programs and where she returned as an instructor of reporting and advanced reporting.

She’s held a variety of reporting and editing positions at media companies such as the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, The Associated Press’ Los Angeles bureau and the St. Louis Sun. She spent six years as an editor at The Charlotte Observer before joining The Sun News as assistant managing editor in 2000, hired by then-editor Trisha O’Connor, who now is journalist/media executive-in-residence at Coastal Carolina University.

Murray’s passion for journalism, integrity and work ethic impressed O’Connor, who also worked with Murray at The Charlotte Observer.

“All three of those qualities made it an easy decision to ask her to join us in Myrtle Beach, to promote her ... and then recommend her for the top editor spot,” said O’Connor, who left The Sun News in 2010. “And I admire all those things about her today.”

The Sun News staff has collected a number of journalism awards under Murray’s leadership, including nods from the S.C. Press Association for General Excellence, enterprise reporting and photography, among others.

“Carolyn’s willingness to jump in no matter what needs to be done was among her strongest contributions to the newsroom when I was the editor,” O’Connor said. “She is an excellent hands-to-the-keyboard editor and makes the overall product better because of her skill as a coach and wordsmith.”

Teaching journalists has been one of Murray’s passions and a rewarding part of her career, she said.

“I still hear from and mentor students from the University of Missouri,” Murray said. “I really value those connections.”

Murray plans to continue her community service during retirement; she’s served on boards for the American Red Cross, literacy program Freedom Readers, The Sun News Educational Foundation and as a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International.

Retirement also will give Murray more time to spend with husband Tom, a former photojournalist for The Sun News, and their horse, Buddy. She has a family history project planned and is considering writing a book.

“I want to try some things I’ve rolled around in my head for a long time,” Murray said.

This story was originally published September 10, 2015 at 4:14 PM with the headline "The Sun News’ top editor retiring."