Senior Instructor Rick Brunson was named one of 34 national Faculty Champions by the Center for Community News, based at the University of Vermont. The recognition is the result of fostering and leading news-academic partnerships in UCF’s service area. I had the exciting opportunity to ask Brunson a few questions regarding this honor and how this impacts the community.
Please briefly explain the award/honor that you received.
“I received the Faculty Champion for Community News Award from the Center for Community News, based at the University of Vermont. I was one of 34 journalism instructor/professors from around the nation to receive the award. In addition to the recognition, it comes with a $1,000 stipend for the recipient to use in any way they see fit.”
Why did you receive this award?
“For leadership in fostering news-academic partnerships at UCF and the Nicholson School. Since 2020, my RTV 3301 Electronic Journalism I class has partnered with public media outlets WUCF-TV/FM and WMFE 90.7 Central Florida Public Media to produce award-winning journalism that has reached thousands of listeners and readers. Class projects such as “The Moore Project” and the “Sounds of Central Florida” project produced by the class in partnership with these news organizations have won a national Edward R. Murrow Award and multiple Sunshine State Awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. These projects have met the high, exacting standards of these news organizations, which makes our broadcast journalism students who meet those standards more ready for their eventual professional careers in media.”
How does this recognition impact the community as well as the next generation of journalists?
“Our bright and wonderfully diverse students bring fresh story ideas to these news outlets through these projects, expanding the reach of these organizations to a new generation of listeners, and their participation helps to reflect the rich diversity of voices in the Central Florida community. These projects have ensured that the community UCF serves is more enlightened, educated and informed — which is the primary purpose and reason that both the journalism profession and educational institutions like UCF exist.”
A press release from CCN is attached and a link to the website announcement is below.
Faculty Champions and Fellows | Center for Community News | The University of Vermont (uvm.edu)
Written by Majdulina Hamed.
Published to Nicholson News on October 2nd, 2024.
If you have any news, accomplishments or highlights about your work or life, please be sure to share them with us, by emailing us at NicholsonNews@ucf.edu.