School of Journalism & Media

Broadcasting the Olympics: An Alumna’s Dream Come True

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During this summer’s Tokyo Olympics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, alumna Courtney Lyle (’12) of ESPN and the SEC Network will deliver NBC’s play-by-play for men’s and women’s field hockey alongside Olympic ice hockey medalist and analyst A. J. Mleczko. When the announcement was made, Lyle tweeted, “Athletes dream of playing in the Olympics. Announcers dream of calling them. I couldn’t be more excited to be part of NBC’s field hockey coverage this year!!! Dream Come True!!!”

Lyle and Mleczko will broadcast from NBC studios in Stamford, Connecticut, beginning August 1. “We will have a feed of the match from Tokyo … Read more “Broadcasting the Olympics: An Alumna’s Dream Come True”

JEM science communicator alumni analyze their academic, career experiences

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One of the perks about studying Journalism and Electronic Media (JEM) at UT is the amount of local resources that students have access to. From interning at the Knoxville News Sentinel to Discovery, Inc. to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), there are ample opportunities to combine the communications field with other specialties.

Here are four science communicator alumni stories.

ORNL is known around the science and technology communities for many things, one of those being its Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). Essentially, this accelerator-based system sends proton pulses to a steel target filled with liquid mercury. Then the neutrons move toward … Read more “JEM science communicator alumni analyze their academic, career experiences”

Teresa Walker receives JEM 2020 Alumna of the Year award

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Teresa Walker, pro football writer for The Associated Press in Tennessee, is the 2020 Alumna of the Year for the School of Journalism and Electronic Media.

A three-time Tennessee Sportswriter of the Year recipient, Walker was elected to the Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s Hall of Fame in 2020.

Furthermore, Walker won a 2015 APSE award for a feature from the Masters, and she is also a two-time president of the Pro Football Writers Association in Nashville and past president of the Tennessee Sports Writers Association.

Walker has come full circle with UT’s recognition of her work.

“It is incredibly … Read more “Teresa Walker receives JEM 2020 Alumna of the Year award”

John Jackson Miller: From Daily Beacon Editor to Star Fantasy Writer

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John Jackson Miller Feature

After graduating from the University of Tennessee where he served as editor of The Daily Beacon, John Jackson Miller (JEM ’90) set his sights on the stars.

Specifically, the stars in a galaxy far, far away and the ones in the far-flung future where no man has gone before.

Miller turned his lifelong passion for comic books and science fiction into a career, evolving from a trade publication editor to a creator. Today, he is a New York Times bestselling novelist and comic writer for Star Wars, Star Trek, and many other fantasy licenses and original works in between. … Read more “John Jackson Miller: From Daily Beacon Editor to Star Fantasy Writer”

Successful Alumni: Sharrie Williams’ goals led her from Tennessee to Philadelphia, the number four broadcast market in America

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By Lisa Byerley Gary
Instructor, JEM 414, Fall 2014

When Sharrie Williams began her first full-time job in television after graduating from UT, a news job with a small station in Jackson, Tennessee, she also waited tables to make ends meet.

“It paid that poorly,” she said.

But Williams had goals. She wanted to learn everything there was to learn about television news in exactly one year. Then she would move on to a bigger market.

Today Williams is a reporter and anchor at ABC-owned WPLY-TV in Philadelphia, the fourth largest television market in America. Her journey from a … Read more “Successful Alumni: Sharrie Williams’ goals led her from Tennessee to Philadelphia, the number four broadcast market in America”

A Message to Freshmen: Alumnus Kendall Downing Gives Advice to Journalism Students on how to Reach their Goals Post-Graduation

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By Kelsey French
JEM 414 Fall 2018

 

Kendall Downing has worked in various markets:  WYMD-TV in Hazard, Kentucky, WPSD-TV in Paducah, Kentucky, WXIN-TV in Indianapolis, and back to his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee at WMC Action News 5.

For Downing, it was always a childhood dream to work in news. It’s no wonder he started setting himself apart from his peers as soon as he started college.

“The first thing I did was try to get myself in front of people that would get me as much experience as possible” Downing said.

Downing became heavily involved on campus, both … Read more “A Message to Freshmen: Alumnus Kendall Downing Gives Advice to Journalism Students on how to Reach their Goals Post-Graduation”

Successful Alumni: Jordan Lawson’s experience at UT led him to work as a web content editor in Atlanta

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By John Vandergriff
Jem 414, Fall 2018

Jordan Lawson is a content editor for Discovery. Photo Courtesy of Jordan Lawson

A journalism major opens many doors, not just those to hard news. Just ask Jordan Lawson, a graduate of the University of Tennessee’s School of Journalism and Electronic Media, and an online editor for Discovery.

Lawson grew up around Knoxville, so the decision to go to the University of Tennessee was easy. There, he decided to pursue a major in journalism and got involved with The Tennessee Journalist, TNJN.com, the official news website for the School of Journalism and Electronic … Read more “Successful Alumni: Jordan Lawson’s experience at UT led him to work as a web content editor in Atlanta”

Successful Alumni: From Naps to News, Claire Dodson’s journey took her to Teen Vogue

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By Lindsey Owen
JEM 414, Fall 2018

Claire Dodson grew up hearing the sound of The Daily Times being printed from underneath a journalist’s desk where she would sleep while her father worked.

Her father, Richard Dodson, could be found working in the Maryville, Tennessee, newsroom during late hours when the paper was printing. These late nights would later impact Dodson’s career path.

She works as an entertainment editor at Teen Vogue.

Dodson says this is because of the courses, experience, and mentors she had within UT’s Communications Building.

Her journey into journalism began during her junior year at Bearden … Read more “Successful Alumni: From Naps to News, Claire Dodson’s journey took her to Teen Vogue”

Successful Alumni: David Cobb journeyed from immature freshman to blossoming NBA beat writer

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*David Cobb now works for CBS Sports covering college basketball and football. 

By Blake Von Hagen
JEM 414, Fall 2018

Five years ago, if someone had told David Cobb he would be leaving a job as a Tennessee football and basketball beat writer in 2018, he likely would have told them they were crazy.

If they had gone on to tell him that he would be joining his hometown paper as an NBA beat writer, he might have told them they were even crazier.

In the fall of 2018, that dream came true for Cobb, a graduate of the … Read more “Successful Alumni: David Cobb journeyed from immature freshman to blossoming NBA beat writer”

Successful Alumni: Courtney Anderson used experience, determination, to make it in TV news

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*Courtney Anderson is now the Web Producer for WREG-TV

By Madi Bowling, JEM 414, Fall 2018

 

A day in the life of Courtney Anderson starts bright and early as she enters the office of WREG in Memphis at 5:30 a.m. Anderson organizes the calendar of events that will be televised by the station that day and focuses upon the most important events. She talks to daybreak producers about what the morning staff is covering and is sure to redirect them to any breaking news. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., she meets with day producers to plan shows for … Read more “Successful Alumni: Courtney Anderson used experience, determination, to make it in TV news”