Bruce T. Murray
In the news
Bruce T. Murray is an award-winning journalist and a veteran of the newspaper business. He worked for 11 years as a reporter and editor at daily newspapers throughout the United States. Most recently, he was a city editor at the Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.) and the Los Angeles Times.
Murray began his newspaper career at the Santa Barbara Independent, and he subsequently worked at the Daily Times-Republic in Watseka, Ill., Rolla Daily News in Rolla, Mo., and the Daily Advertiser in Lafayette, La.
Murray put his journalism methods to work in his University of Massachusetts Press book, Religious Liberty in America: The First Amendment in Historical and Contemporary Perspective. In news-speak, an essential element of a complex story format is the “nut graph” — the kernel of an article that sets out its purpose. Religious Liberty in America was written so that every chapter and every subchapter has a readily discernible nut graph. It was designed so that a reader can open the book to any particular page and quickly figure out what is happening. This format works not only for the benefit of students and reporters — always in a hurry — but also for the general reader who is looking for accessible information on critical issues relating to the First Amendment, religion and public life. The Association of College and Research Libraries named Religious Liberty in America an “Outstanding Academic Book.”
In 2001, Murray switched from print to online publishing. He developed and managed Web sites for several nonprofit organizations and businesses, while at the same time developing his skills as an educational writer. Murray is a highly versatile writer, covering a broad category of subjects including economics, energy, the environment, climate change, risk analysis, alternative energy, and energy policy. Murray has also covered science, biotech, health, land use and homeland security.
Murray studied English and German literature at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He also studied French at the University of Southwestern Louisiana and the University of Sainte Anne, Church Point, Nova Scotia. He is currently pursuing a Juris Doctor degree at Thomas Jefferson School of Law.