Elizabeth Burns

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 “struggled with a few different ailments” over the last several years and died the afternoon of Thursday, April 24, at her home in Arizona, according to her stepson Brian Burns, who is currently Morgan Murphy Media’s president and CEO. Murphy Burns last month stepped down as CEO to become chair of the Madison, Wisconsin-based company’s board. 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. 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. 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.