Shanice Dunning, a graduate student in broadcast journalism, was one of 11 student journalists from across the country selected to participate in the first paid fellowship program sponsored by the Capitol Broadcasting Company (CBC) WRAL-TV and the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill's School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The goal of the fellowship program is to increase diversity in the broadcast news industry.
Held over four days in March, the CBC-UNC Diversity Fellowship Program 2013 gave these talented young journalists the opportunity to craft news stories as individual reporters and in collaborative groups. A series of workshops offered by WRAL professionals and UNC journalism faculty focused on landing and succeeding in first broadcasting jobs. Students also benefitted from resume and reel critiques. Each student who participated in the fellowship had the chance to report on his or her own story; student stories were compiled into a newscast that was recorded on the last day of the program.
“I felt honored to be selected for the inaugural class of this program. It was great to visit a station like WRAL that is so committed to solid journalism,” Dunning said. “At the end of the program I was grateful for all the information that I learned in the workshops, but also thankful for the solid education that I've already received here at JMC.”