Inspire, Spring 2004

Inspire 23 After graduating from Cedarville University in 1977, Chuck Elliott enrolled in a master’s program in communication at Temple University in Philadelphia. His plans to pursue journalism gradually evolved into a desire to teach and, while visiting his wife’s family in Hong Kong, he was offered a position at a local university. After completing five years of teaching, Chuck was granted study leave and returned to the U.S. to work on a Ph.D. at Temple. Two years later, Chuck returned to teaching in Hong Kong while completing his dissertation on how cultural values are embedded in news. In 1999, Chuck was appointed head of the department of communication studies in the School of Communication at Hong Kong Baptist University. This department had three programs of study: applied communication studies, digital graphic communication, and public relations and advertising. It was a dynamic department with very talented students who were able to make a dramatic mark on Hong Kong society through their employment in all the major communication industries in Hong Kong and southern China. Chuck worked in this capacity until July 15, 2003, when he resigned to take the position of chair of the department of communication arts at Cedarville University. Most of his research has been to try to understand the nature of news. Chuck has considered how culture has an impact on what is newsworthy. From this, he has examined other forms of communication, such as advertising, to see how culture is embedded in mediated messages. His interest now includes how the Internet allows new opportunities for the transmission of news. In the following interview, Chuck shares his philosophy of communication and journalism. Why are words important? Words are essential because they are vehicles of thought. They give expression to the world around us and within us. Words are the means we use to process information and operate within our world. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to convey clearly and directly to another person’s mind exactly what is in your mind? Since we can’t do this, we have to use language to attempt to make the transfer of meaning possible. And while language is an incredible tool, there are so many potential barriers that it is amazing we can communicate at all! Yet despite all the limitations, language is flexible enough to be able to refer to itself and allow us to communicate about communication. Words are the means to build relationships. We use words to disclose ourselves to others and by so doing establish all types of formal and informal connections. This is particularly true for a relationship with God where, as Psalm 19:14 notes, both the spoken and unspoken words must be offered to Him in holiness and truth. Words are used to inform, teach, entertain, enlighten, correct, direct, and connect, just to name a few things they Giving Expression to the World Around Us B y C h u c k E l l i o t t ’ 7 7