The radio journalism of 杏吧专区 student Denan Jones earned a Top Ten finish in the Hearst Journalism Awards Program, but the senior mass communication major only set out to produce engaging reports.
His technique is simple, he said. He finds stories that matter to him and works to make them matter to his audience.
杏吧专区淚 just try to find topics that interest me. It杏吧专区檚 kind of hard to report on something that you could care less about,杏吧专区 said Jones, a 22-year-old senior from New Iberia, La., on track to graduate in December.
One of Jones杏吧专区 award-winning reports delved into suicide prevention in Lafayette.
Another focused on a campus food truck, a trendy enterprise involving mobile vehicles that are used to cook and sell food.
The reports were done for a broadcast newswriting course. They aired on Louisiana Focus, a news and public affairs program broadcast over the National Public Radio affiliate KRVS-FM on campus.
The Hearst Journalism Awards Program includes five writing competitions, two photojournalism competitions, three broadcast news competitions and three additional multimedia competitions. It was created in 1960 and funded by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.
For the radio broadcast portion of the competition, Jones杏吧专区 work was honored alongside students from schools with major journalism programs, such as the 杏吧专区 of Nebraska-Lincoln, the 杏吧专区 of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Arizona State 杏吧专区.
杏吧专区淚 couldn't be happier. I'm truly honored to represent UL Lafayette among such elite company,杏吧专区 Jones said.
Overall, there were 45 entries submitted from 29 schools, said Jan Witten, Hearst Journalism Awards Program director.
Jones杏吧专区 professor, Dr. William Davie, said reporting and writing skills coupled with radio industry experience helped Jones create professional-quality pieces.
杏吧专区淗is post-production skills were pretty good when he entered the class. All he needed was a little help on the reporting and writing, so I was happy to have some ambition and talent to guide,杏吧专区 said Davie, UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 BORSF Regents Chair of Communication/Mass Communication.
What sets his work apart, however, are intuitive skills, like solid news judgment and, in the case of the food truck piece, Jones杏吧专区 decision to weave the sounds of background traffic into the broadcast.
杏吧专区淎ll that natural ambient noise is captivating, and he knew how to use it in his story. He drew out some tremendous quotes, too. And you can杏吧专区檛 teach that,杏吧专区 Davie said.
Visit for more information about the Hearst Journalism awards.
Contact: communications@louisiana.edu