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Meet the Staff

TIFFANY WILLIAMS is currently a graduate student at Michigan State University, where she is pursuing a graduate degree in journalism with an emphasis in documentary filmmaking. She received her B.A. degree in English from Tennessee State University in 2010. During her undergraduate years, she completed internships with such newspapers as the South Bend Tribune and Belleville News-Democrat. In summer 2010, Williams was named a Chips Quinn Scholar and interned for the Press of Atlantic City. In addition to her studies at MSU, Williams participates in several organizations around campus and is a freelance writer for Journal Communications, Inc. This summer she participated in the New York Times Student Journalism Institute in New Orleans, and is now interning with the Defender Media Group in Houston. She’s slated to graduate in May 2012 and looks forward to entering the field of journalism as a multimedia reporter.


OCTAVIO JONES is currently a photojournalist intern at The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, Florida. Prior to working at the Times-Union, Octavio recently graduated from The Ohio University with a Master’s Degree in Visual Communication. His work experience includes internships at Que Pasa Media (Raleigh, NC), The Triangle Tribune (Durham, NC), The Herald Sun (Durham, NC), and The Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, NC). In addition to internships Octavio has remained active in the photojournalism community working with the Southern Short Course, an active member of both the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Press Photographers Association for the past 5 years. Octavio is continuing his work in visual storytelling with an emphasis in documentary
reportage.



ROBERT RUFFIN is a rising senior at Harvard University and is working on his degree in history and African American studies. He began as beat photographer for the arts and sports sections as well as the web blog for the Harvard Crimson, and is now the associate photo editor of sports photography. As the head of sports photography he is responsible for all of the sports photo content for the web, daily and Monday sports supplements. In addition to his work at the Crimson he is working for the magazine, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, where he shoots and writes his own stories. He primarily covers education policy developments in Washington, D.C., and the intersection between higher education and sports. He is also working for the film production company the Ciesla Foundation where he manages the blog and is part of the team that is working on a documentary on Julius Rosenwald.


ERIC BURSE is a multimedia journalist entering his junior year at the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism at the University of Southern California. Burse is double-majoring in broadcast & digital journalism and political science. He is a multimedia journalist for USC’s Annenberg TV news station and a writer for the school’s Daily Trojan newspaper. He also serves as the director of the Black Student Assembly at USC and chair of the Southern California Black Student Assembly Association. Burse has a strong interest in the current American youth generation politics and leadership. He is currently authoring a book about youth leadership with MSNBC’s Jeff Johnson. He plans to continue his education and work as a research-based reporter.


TAYLA HOLMAN is a senior at Hofstra University, where she is pursuing a dual degree in English and journalism. She is the president of the Hofstra Association of Black Journalists, and a member of the Phi Eta Sigma, Lambda Pi Eta and Society for Collegiate Journalists honor societies. Holman is a founding editor of LongIslandReport.org, Hofstra’s School of Communication’s local news site, and acted as managing editor from Sept. 2010 to February 2011. During her time as head of Long Island Report, Holman managed 10 editors and over 30 reporters. She and her staff covered everything from the New York State gubernatorial debate to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.” Holman is currently an editorial intern at WEGO Health, a health social media website based in Boston, and a freelance writer for Healthline.com.


DWAYNE ADAMS is a graduating senior from Texas Southern University where he will receive his degree in mass communication with a focus on print journalism. He spent his summer doing what he enjoyed most, writing, interviewing and publishing stories at the Houston Chronicle. His time was split between the copy desk and the neighborhoods department as an editor. Adams has had two bylines published online. He serves as the editor-in-chief for the university’s student publication, The Herald as well as vice president for TSU’s chapters of NAACP and ABJ. He is also a member of Habitat for Humanity, Keep A Child Alive (KAC), and Circle Kiwanis International. He has received recognition for his outstanding work and commitment for service from local newspapers the Defender, the Forward Times and the Sun.


FARAN FOY is recent graduate of Florida State University where she earned her degree in the newly formed editing, writing and media program. Her educational background includes studying journalism at Florida A&M University with a concentration in magazine production. She will continue her education at Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law studying copyright law in the fall. Foy is the former FAMU ABJ vice president of print. She worked her way up the ladder at The Famuan, FAMU’s award-winning student newspaper. In 2009, as multimedia editor she guided the paper into to social media frenzy and saw them rank No. 1 upon MTV’s College Publisher web server. There she grew as a multimedia journalist earning first place in Arts & Entertainment criticism at the 2010 Black College Communications Conference.


DANIELLA DORCELUS is a recent graduate of the University of Florida where she holds a degree in journalism. While at UF, she became active in her chapter of the Association of Black Journalists by serving as community service committee chair. She later served as vice president of the chapter.  She was also active in the Black Student Union. She was a member of the Union’s Leadership Development Institute and eventually went on to serve as assistant director of the Media Relations Committee.  As a student she wrote for various publications, such as The Independent Florida Alligator and The Gainesville Sun. She also learned aspects of broadcasting as a volunteer for WUFT, the PBS affiliate on campus. She plans on furthering her education by obtaining a graduate degree in public health focusing on health policy and management.


MICHAEL FINCH II is a journalism major a Florida International University in Miami. He is currently interning at The Palm Beach Post in Florida on the breaking news desk, mainly covering crime. In addition to working on the 2011 Student Multimedia Project, this summer, he also worked with the New York Times Student Journalism Institute in New Orleans. He was a freelance reporter for The Miami Herald, reporting on city budget meetings and community news. He plans to graduate next summer.


DERON DALTON is a multi-platform journalist attending the University of Missouri and who is originally from Kansas City, Mo. Currently, he holds executive positions as the editor-in-chief of The BLACKout, an online magazine catering to young black adults, and as the committee chair of NABJ-Alé Student Chapter. He also interns at theGrio, NBC News’ video-centric African-American news and opinion website housed at 30 Rock in New York (http://thegrio.com). Storytelling about the black community— that doesn’t fall in the media functions of entertainment and surveillance—is lacking in mainstream media. He also plans to graduate in May 2012 with a degree in convergence journalism and a certificate in black and multicultural studies.


KEISHA FRAZIER


ARIELE PRATT is a multimedia journalist. She is currently pursuing her undergraduate education at the University of Southern California and will graduate in December with a degree in print and digital journalism. During her time at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism she has covered stories on the South Central community for the radio station, the online news site and the student newspaper, The Daily Trojan. She was recognized by the Black Journalists Association of Southern California with the Andrea Ford Scholarship Award for her extensive coverage of the greater USC community and her outstanding leadership abilities. Pratt has interned at a Latin cable network Nuvo TV for the past four years and is currently assigned to the Programming & Development department in New York City.


JAMAL ANDRESS is a general assignment reporter for KOMU, the NBC affiliate in Columbia, Mo. Andress is a rising senior at the University of Missouri School of
Journalism, and is the 2011 president of their NABJ chapter. He worked as a “one-man band” reporter for KOMU since January 2011, where he contributed live coverage of the tornado disaster in Joplin, Mo. Before working at KOMU, he was a political radio reporter for KMOX in St. Louis and Missouri Digital News in Jefferson City. During the summer of 2010, he interned with the sports department at the ABC affiliate in Houston, KTRK. Andress was born and raised in Houston, and is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.


KARA IRBY is a recent graduate of Florida State University. Irby received her degree in media communication studies, most recently interning at the CBS Affiliate, WCTV in Tallahassee. Irby was bit by the journalism bug while at Lakewood High School, where she participated in her school’s TV production program, CATCOM Studios. In high school, Irby served as a producer for the school’s daily newscast “Fast Forward,” as well as an anchor and producer for Fox Thirteen Magazine, the only full-fledged high school production to air on a major network affiliate, FOX 13 in Tampa. While matriculating through FSU, Irby worked as an anchor for the campus show, University Update.  Irby also worked as a reporter for Florida State Headlines Radio. Irby reported for Seminole Sports Magazine airing on Florida’s SunSports and hosted the “Great MOEment in History,” a trivia segment airing on the jumbotron at all FSU home football games.


TATIANAH GREEN is a graduate student in Digital Media at Valparaiso University in Indiana, but she commutes from the south suburbs of Chicago. Green has always had a passion for writing and has contributed many articles for her undergrad publication, The Chicago Flame, at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she earned her degree in communications. She has worked with NBC5/WMAQ in Chicago for broadcasting and with Chicago Public Radio/WBEZ in radio broadcast and public relations. In 2008, Green was selected to participate in the Louis Carr Internship Foundation, a summer internship opportunity for minorities in communications. As of today, she is a producer and editor for the Village of Richton Park’s Cable TV Committee and also produces stories for Valparaiso’s VUTV in which she earned an award for best production in May 2011. Her future career aspiration is to own a multimedia magazine.


TRAVIS VARGAS


MARSHALL A. LATIMORE is an all-platform journalist, specializing in visual and multimedia presentation. He honed his skills in design, photography, video/audio editing at Tennessee State University in Nashville, where he was introduced to journalism and will receive his degree in speech communications and English from this fall. Most recently, Latimore completed features design internship at the St. Petersburg Times, creating pages for Latitudes (a Sunday section for the arts, music, television, travel and literature) and Homelink (the Sunday Homes and garden section). He also designed two weekly regional metro sections for the publication’s Tampa edition – North of Tampa and South Tampa City Times.


STACIE BAILEY is a first-year, graduate student at Quinnipiac University in pursuit of a degree in Interactive Communication. Bailey holds a B.S. degree in print journalism from North Carolina A&T State University. She is currently working as a social media intern for dreambelle.com, and has interned as an editorial writer for The News & Record in Greensboro, N.C. During her undergraduate career, she served as a reporter and the online editor for her college publication, The A&T Register. Bailey received the award for Most Promising Print Journalism Student from her university in 2008 and 2010 as well as a second place award for Arts & Entertainment Criticism at the Black College Communication Association’s (BCCA) in 2009. She is a member of Kappa Tau Alpha National Honor Society and Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society.


QUINTAVIUOUS SHEPHARD


CHELSEA FULLER is multi-platform journalist from Ashtabula, Ohio. A recent graduate of the West Virginia University P.I. Reed School of Journalism, Chelsea received a degree in news editorial journalism with a minor in Africana studies. During her time at WVU, she spearheaded the founding and became president of the first and only NABJ chapter in the state of West Virginia. She was also a columnist and opinion page editor for the university’s award-winning student newspaper the Daily Athenaeum. Her work has appeared in national publications both print and online. She is currently employed at the Dominion Post in Morgantown W.Va., where she works as a reporter, copy editor and paginator. Chelsea will be pursuing a graduate degree in magazine journalism this coming year.


KENNETH L. HAWKINS Jr. is a rising senior at North Carolina A&T State University where he is pursuing a degree in print journalism. Hawkins got his start in photography at 10-years-old and has not put the camera down yet. Hawkins has served as The A&T Register’s photo editor since 2009. Hawkins was a 2009 participant in The New York Times Journalism Institute, a 2010 National Association of Black Journalists Multimedia Projects participant and most recently named a 2011 Chips Quinn Scholar. He has interned at the Greensboro News & Record and currently at The St. Petersburg Times. Hawkins is deeply passionate about telling stories visually. In addition, he has served on the North Carolina A&T Association of Black Journalists executive board for two years as treasurer and currently vice president of print.


BRANDON RADCLIFFE


MODUPE IDOWU is a general assignment reporter and anchor for KOMU 8 NEWS in Columbia, Mo. Idowu is a recent graduate from the University of Missouri, where she earned her bachelor’s of journalism degree. She worked as a reporter and anchor for two years of her undergraduate career at the NBC affiliate KOMU. She covered topics ranging from politics to children with special needs. Before that, she worked as a reporter for KBIA, an NPR affiliate in Columbia, Mo. She served as the former president of Missouri’s NABJ Ale Chapter where she led the organization in raising $20,000 to go to Los Angeles for an annual Media Tour. She also interned at NBC’s KSDK in St. Louis and WAGA Fox 5 in Atlanta.


CHERRI GREGG is a licensed attorney and graduate journalism student at Temple University. For eight years, Gregg worked as an intellectual property litigation associate for two Am-Law 100 law firms.  Although she enjoyed the practice of law, her true passion is broadcast journalism. In January 2010, Gregg quit her law practice to pursue her passion full-time. Gregg is currently in her fourth semester of Temple University’s Masters in Journalism program. She received the Louis Schiller Journalism Award from the Journalism Department in Spring 2010. More recently, Gregg was selected to be a 2011 Meredith-Cronkite Fellow. In addition to her studies, she works part-time as a reporter for KYW Newsradio, one of the most popular stations in the Philadelphia area. Originally from Capitol Heights, Md., Gregg is a graduate of Boston University’s College of Communication and Howard University School of Law.


SHANEEN QUARLES is a student meteorologist. Quarles has a degree in communications with a concentration in meteorology from Pennsylvania State University. She is continuing her education in meteorology as well as her Seal of Approval from the Mississippi State University. Quarles attended school abroad in Nice, France, where she studied art history targeting cities like Cannes, Paris, and Monte Carlo. She was part of the student project in 2009 and has been mentored and coached under Philadelphia’s leading Chief Meteorologist Glenn “Hurricane” Schwartz.  She was a weather reporter for radio and online in the Philadelphia market. She interned at various TV stations in major markets such as Philadelphia’s NBC10 and Fox 26 news in Houston. Quarles is also a student member of the American Meteorology Society.


KIRSTEN GARRISS


NAOMI PRIOLEAU is a multimedia journalist for GlobalEd Programs. Prioleau earned her
degree in mass communications from the University of South Florida. While at USF, Prioleau was a reporter for WUSF 89.7, the largest NPR affiliate in Florida. She covered major stories including the Gulf Oil Spill, the Florida gubernatorial and senator elections and the string multiple police murders in Tampa. Prioleau’s work as a journalist gave her the ability to travel to different countries abroad. Prioleau’s passion for travel and journalism has led her to Seville, Spain, where she interned with a study abroad company and wrote articles, shot videos and took photographs for the company’s website. She aspires to be a foreign correspondent.


ASHLEY CALLOWAY is a multimedia journalist who has recently completed her studies at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. While at Columbia, Calloway covered topics that ranged from politics to adoption to racial identity. This summer, she is working as an editorial intern at Essence magazine. Prior to graduate school, Calloway earned her bachelor’s degree in communication at the University of Miami, where she double majored in journalism and Africana studies. She was a freelance reporter for the Miami Herald and an intern for 944 magazine during her time at UM. Calloway is especially interested in covering social issues.


JADE EARLE is a junior journalism student at the University of Missouri at Columbia. Earle is currently completing an internship at the Amsterdam News in New York City. She has held previous internships at local newspapers throughout New York, including the West Side Spirit, where she covered local political news. At MU, she has written for campus publications, including the student newspaper The Maneater, where she has covered arts, entertainment and student news.


ERYN ROGERS is a broadcast journalist and rising senior at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She is currently interning at MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” where she has the unique opportunity of combining her interest in politics with her love of journalism. She recently finished a residency program at KSNT-TV in Topeka, Kan., where she covered among other stories, the Reading, Kan., and Joplin, Mo., tornadoes. She has also interned with WSB-TV in Atlanta, covering a variety of stories, from the arrest of a tri-state murderer to the Georgia Gubernatorial Primary Elections. Rogers is currently the president of the NABJ-NU chapter. She plans to graduate Spring 2012 with a degree in broadcast journalism with a minor in political science.