The Magical Ride of Dave Madsen
In a classic case of one door closing and another opening, Dave Madsen finds himself enjoying his new life at Morningside College. After working at KTIV in Sioux City for nearly thirty years, including four as General Manager, Madsen’s commercial television career came to an abrupt end thanks to the economy in late 2008.
Part of Madsen’s duty as General Manager was to take care of the station’s finances. In 2008, with the economic recession well under way, Madsen was facing the task of deciding which employees would need to be let go as a cost control measure. Little did he know that the large company that owned KTIV was doing the same, and his job would be one of those eliminated. On a Wednesday in December of 2008, a representative from the corporate owners brought Dave his pink slip.
Unlike many workers facing job losses during the recession, Madsen had a unique opportuniy. As General Manager, he had lots of contacts in the Siouxland area. As a respected member of the Chamber of Commerce and other groups, Madsen was the highlight of a Sioux City Journal article discussing his recent layoff from the company he spent over half of his life at.
In the span of two days, Dave Madsen received many calls stemming from the news of his layoff. Among those that called him, was our very own Morningside College. President John Reynders expressed an interest in Madsen becoming the Chair of the Mass Communication department and faculty advisor to the campus television station, MCTV. In June of 2009, Dave Madsen began his new journey as a college educator.
Having graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a degree in journalism, Madsen was now going to be on the giving end of education rather than receiving. Now in his third year at Morningside, Madsen is making the most of his new opportunity. In an effort to further his own teaching abilities, he is pursuing his Master’s degree in Mass Communications and Journalism from his alma-mater. Dave Madsen is also a great example of the Morningside College mission statement regarding life-long learning.
Teaching courses like Passport, Media Management, Media Sales, Video Practicum and Public Relations, Madsen especially enjoys the Media Management course because it deals with subject matter he’s very familiar with.
Another subject Dave Madsen is familiar with is definitely a unique one. That subject is magic. After receiving a magic kit from his grandmother for Christmas at age eight, Madsen developed a passion for performing magic tricks. In fact, he hosted a children’s show in Sioux City in the late 1970’s called Bingo’s Big Pop. As a clown, Madsen delighted children with his tricks and jokes.
Today he delights students with tips and notes, although this may be a different kind of delight. Moving forward, Madsen hopes to stick around Morningside College long enough to retire, but he has one major goal in his time here. “I want to see a weekly, student newscast on MCTV.”
He emphasized that MCTV is a student-run organization, and it will take dedication from students to make it happen. Madsen will provide the tools to do so, but Morningside students will have to do the doing.
The story of Dave Madsen is a classic tale of “When one door closes, another door opens,” but Madsen may prefer likening his story to something more familiar. KTIV handed Madsen a hat, and he just pulled the rabbit out of it.