Phil Busse

Phil Busse is a writer, teacher, sports coach and program director. In 2000, he helped launch the Portland Mercury and served as the Managing Editor for the newspaper for six years. For ten years, Phil served as the Director for the Media Institute for Social Change, which he founded in 2006. The Media Institute’s centerpiece was a Summer Documentary Program in Portland, a two-month long residential program that taught college students how to produce radio and film documentaries about social issues. In 2013, Phil launched the Rogue Valley Messenger in southern Oregon, for which he served for a decade as the Publisher and Editor.

Phil is an avid skier and rower, and a former soccer player and long-distance runner. As a high school and college Nordic skier, he was a top-ranked national competitor.  As a rower, he won a gold in the eights at the U.S. National Junior Championships and a silver in a single at the West Coast College Championships.  He has been the Head Coach for the University of Oregon, and started rowing programs at Middlebury College, University of Portland and St Olaf College. Wisconsin-bred, he cheers for the Packers, the Brewers and the Bucks.

Courses I’ve Taught

MEDA 108:  Introduction to Sports Communication
MEDA 240:  Writing to the Media 
MEDA 248:  Sports Journalism 

Education

Juris Doctorate
University of Oregon School of Law, 1997

BA, English Major
Middlebury College, 1992