April 2001

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Williams attends Poynter spring-break program

Spring break started early for Bridgett Williams, a senior in the School’s electronic communication sequence.

Williams was accepted to the Poynter Institute’s "Class of 2001: Spring Break for College Students" held March 1-3 in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Poynter Institute is a school for current and future journalists and journalism educators. It offers new tools and ideas needed to handle the challenges of producing quality news reports, programs and publications.

The organization sent applications to 47 colleges and universities that could nominate two students each. Of those nominated, Poynter selected only 30 students for the seminar.

Associate Dean Jan Yopp, who selected the two Carolina candidates, said she looked for students with talent and potential — students who, if they were accepted to the program, could polish their skills.

"Bridgett is so active in the School, we knew she’d be competitive," Yopp said.

On its Web site, Poynter describes the three-day seminar as a chance to expose students to what it’s like in the real world of journalism, sharpen their journalism skills, teach them new industry trends and allow them the time to walk the sandy beaches of St. Petersburg.

Williams anchors and reports for "Carolina Week" and is president of the Carolina Association of Black Journalists, a student chapter affiliated with the National Association of Black Journalists.

At the seminar, Williams was given the option of attending a variety of workshops covering topics such as writing, ethics and visual storytelling.

Her favorite session was entitled "Getting to First and Lasting," led by Charles Pugh and Calvin Hughes. Both men are anchors and reporters, Pugh at WJBK-TV in Southfield, Mich., and Hughes at WJCL-TV in Atlanta. Williams said she found Hughes’ success story to be a positive example of someone who has already made it to the top at only the age of 29.

"He is so down to earth for someone with that much success," Williams said. "I admired how he told us that he prayed and worked hard to obtain his dream job."

Others making appearances were Ramon Escobar, executive producer of MSNBC, Jennifer Loomis, live video/multimedia producer for MSNBC, and Gregory Favre, vice president of news at McClatchy Company.

Besides learning from these professionals, Williams said the students also learned something from each other.

"We learned that we’re never going to be fully ready," Williams said. "We’re not scared, but we realized that we’re not that far away from being one of those speakers."

By the end of the seminar, Williams said she and her classmates couldn't believe they had gotten the privilege of attending the program.

"I wish I could have stayed longer," she said. "There was this feeling amongst all of us of not wanting to leave."

Melissa Sowry is a junior in the electronic communication sequence.