Southeastern Channel news reporter wins Capitol Correspondents Scholarship
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
by: Tonya Lowentritt
JOURNALISM SCHOLARSHIP WINNER- Southeastern Louisiana University student Amanda Kitch of Covington, a TV news reporter for the Southeastern Channel’s award-winning newscast “Northshore News,” was awarded a $1,000 scholarship recently from the Capitol Correspondents Association of Baton Rouge, a non-profit organization that supports print and broadcast journalists who report on Louisiana state and local government and politics. Kitch won the only CCA scholarship given from all applicants majoring in print or broadcast communications at LSU, Southern University, University of Louisiana-Lafayette, and Southeastern.
HAMMOND – A Southeastern Louisiana University student television news reporter
has been awarded a $1,000 scholarship by the Capitol Correspondents Association in
Baton Rouge.
Amanda Kitch of Covington, a reporter-anchor for the Southeastern Channel’s award-winning
student newscast “Northshore News,” was presented the award at the Capitol Correspondents
Association’s 67th Annual Gridiron Show in Baton Rouge.
The CCA Scholarship is the third scholarship Kitch has won this year. Earlier
she won the prestigious 2018 Louisiana Association of Broadcasters Student Scholarship
worth $4,000 awarded to only one broadcasting student in Louisiana. For the second
year in a row, she won an Emmy Scholarship presented by the Suncoast Region and worth
$4,500, bringing her total scholarship earnings this year to $9,500.
The CCA of Baton Rouge is a non-profit organization that supports print and broadcast
journalists who report on Louisiana state and local government and politics. The organization
performs an annual gridiron show that provides an opportunity to roast the political
figures they cover with satirical, sharply comedic musical skits. Proceeds from the
show support scholarship programs for journalism students as well as charities.
To be eligible for the scholarship, a student must have at least junior standing
and major in broadcast or print communications at Southeastern, LSU, Louisiana-Lafayette
or Southern University. A 3.0 cumulative grade point average is required along with
a letter from the student and three examples of the student’s work in either broadcast
or print format. The panel of judges for the CCA scholarship committee are current
and former journalists in the print and broadcast professions. Kitch was the only
student from the four universities selected for the award.
A communication major with a focus in electronic media, Kitch has led “Northshore
News” to SPJ, AP and SEJC honors for top student newscast.
“Through ‘Northshore News’ I’m able to practice real-life habits of producing,
writing, reporting, recording, editing and anchoring,” Kitch said. “These habits and
values I establish will follow me in all jobs I take. I get to meet very interesting
and helpful people from my community, and this helps me with networking and understanding
my community better. My experiences at the Southeastern Channel add to my resume and
demo reel, which helps me stand out as an aspiring reporter who already has an understanding
of how the TV production floor works.”
Kitch plans to intern with WVUE-TV Fox 8 News in New Orleans this fall and embark
on a career as a TV news anchor-reporter upon graduation next May.
