Barbara Merckx is an award-winning Newsroom Manager with more than two decades of experience as an Executive Producer and Managing Editor with local and network news operations in Oklahoma City, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and St. Louis.
Among her accomplishments are leading coverage during five separate EF-5 tornadoes in three news markets, field producing live coverage of Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina from the Gulf Coast and broadcasting live from the Black Tie and Boots Inaugural Ball for George W. Bush after completing an exclusive interview with the second term President in the White House. Barbaa also served as the daily live producer of the trial of Terry Nichols, the co-conspirator of the Oklahoma City Bombing, organized and produced a live 60-minute multi-denominational vigil within 24 hours of the 9/11 terrorist attacks held in Downtown Dallas, and was the Executive Producer for championship sports specials featuring the Oklahoma Sooners, OKC Thunder, and Dallas Mavericks. Her favorite story remains the one-on-one interview with Willie Nelson on his tour bus where she was serenaded by the legend with the song “Red Headed Stranger.”
At Gaylord College, Barbara serves as the News Director, overseeing every aspect of the national award-winning OU Nightly, as well as supervising Gaylord staff who manage production crews and the content for Big Friday Sports, Sooner Sports Pad, and Game Day U. All programs that routinely receive national awards under the guidance of the Gaylord Sports Director.
Barbara is also an instructor for broadcast journalism course “Television News” as well as two hands on practicum courses “TV News Editorial.” In addition, Barbara works closely with OU’s School of Meteorology and its students who are interested in Broadcasting and find their “second home” at Gaylord College as OU Nightly meteorologists. She paved the way for the first live broadcasts from Gaylord College Studios of tornado warnings for storms that hit parts of the campus community in 2023. She is among the few journalism instructors and News Directors ever invited to present at the American Meteorological Society conference detailing lessons learned by students during that experience.
Barbara is the recipient of 6 Emmy Awards, a National Gracie Award, and several awards from the Oklahoma and Texas Associated Press and Association of Broadcasters. As the OU Nightly News Director, she has led students to winning numerous national awards for storytelling, anchoring, weathercasts, newscasts, and special election coverage.
Barbara is a graduate of William Woods University holding two bachelor’s degrees in Broadcast Communications and Political Science; simultaneously completing those classes at Westminster College. She is a Norman native and where she currently lives with her husband and three loving Labradors; their daughter is an OU student.
