Elizabeth Murphy Burns, who served as president and CEO of family-owned broadcasting and media company Morgan Murphy Media for 43 years, has died. She was 79.
Her death was announced Friday by Morgan Murphy Media. The company did not provide details on the cause of her death.
Murphy Burns last month stepped down as CEO to become chair of the Madison, Wisconsin-based company’s board. She was a pioneer in American broadcasting who transformed her family’s business into a multiplatform media company while breaking barriers for women in the industry.
“Elizabeth Murphy Burns was a visionary leader whose influence extended far beyond our company,” Morgan Murphy president and CEO Brian Burns, Murphy Burns’ stepson, said in a statement. “Her commitment to journalistic integrity, technological innovation, and community service shaped not only Morgan Murphy Media but the entire broadcasting industry. Her legacy will continue to guide us as we move forward.”
Born Dec. 4, 1945, in Superior, Wisconsin, Murphy Burns began her career at 14 selling classified ads for her family’s newspaper. After attending the University of Arizona, she entered broadcasting and owned and operated a radio station by age 25 before rejoining her family’s management team. In 1982, she became vice president of what would later become Morgan Murphy Media, leading the company with her brother John Murphy.
Under her stewardship and in partnership with her brother, the newspaper business her grandfather founded in 1890 grew to include broadcast TV stations in eight markets affiliated with all major networks, 17 radio stations, a monthly magazine, and digital marketing agency Phase 3 Digital Agency.
Murphy Burns’ accomplishments including becoming the first woman elected to the CBS affiliates advisory board and one of the first women elected to the National Association of Broadcasters board of directors. She was inducted into the Wisconsin Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2005, joining her father Morgan Murphy as an inductee, and she was designated a “Giant of Broadcasting” by the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation in 2018.
In addition, she served on the board of trustees for Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism Endowment; served as chairwoman of the board of the Association for Maximum Service Television (MSTV); and was a director of the Republic Bank in Duluth and of the National Guardian Life Insurance Co. in Madison.
Morgan Murphy’s influence extended beyond company leadership into technological innovation and policy. In 1998, she testified before a Senate congressional hearing advocating that cable companies should be required to carry digital broadcast signals, helping to advance the transition to HDTV. Her impact reached international levels when she participated in a delegation for the administration of President George W. Bush to promote independent news media in Russia, collaborating with Russian media executives to foster journalistic integrity.
In recent years, Murphy Burns and her husband Richard spent time in Arizona, helping shape the next generation of journalists at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The couple’s contributions led to the dedication of the school’s largest teaching space in their honor, a 141-seat, technologically advanced classroom.
Murphy Burns often reminded employees their duty was to “inform, educate and entertain,” according to the company. Despite trends toward corporate consolidation at all levels of media, she believed being family-owned and operated allowed the local properties to be more closely connected to the communities they serve. “This industry has been very good to me and my family. And you need to give back, and you need to set an example. Because what you’re doing is what should be focused on. It’s the act, not the person,” Murphy Burns once said.
In a statement about her death, NAB president and CEO Curtis LeGeyt said, “Liz Burns was a trailblazer, a fierce advocate for local broadcasting and a dear friend to me and so many in our industry. Through her visionary leadership at Morgan Murphy Media and her tireless work with NAB, Liz left an indelible mark on broadcasting that will endure for generations. From pioneering roles on the NAB Board and CBS Affiliate Board to championing the concerns of small market broadcasters on Capitol Hill, Liz’s passion for our mission was unmatched.”
