Elon University School of Communications junior broadcast journalism major Joe Bruno was awarded a John R. Bittner Scholarship from the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas at the organization's annual student workshop Feb. 16 in Charlotte, N.C.
Bruno, who is a reporter and the news director for Elon Local News, Elon University’s student-produced newscast, is the third Elon student in the last five years to win the $1,000 scholarship. Bruno was one of 34 Elon students to attend the workshop. More than 140 students from North and South Carolina participated in the one-day affair.
According to the RTDNAC website, the organization awards two Bittner Scholarships “to currently-enrolled rising juniors or seniors in the Carolinas who are pursuing a major course of study with emphasis in broadcast or electronic journalism.” It’s named after the late Dr. John Robert Bittner, who was a professor at the School of Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and who served as executive director of RTDNAC.
Just a couple of months before receiving the Bittner Scholarship, Bruno also won one of two Presidents Scholarships from the Radio Television Digital News Association, the national organization. The competitive scholarship from the world’s largest professional association for electronic news professionals awarded Bruno $1,000 in honor of nine former RTDNA presidents.
With ELN, he has covered numerous on-campus stories, reported from the 2012 Democratic National Convention, coordinated coverage of President Barack Obama’s second inauguration and anchored a live 7-hour election show back in November. Bruno has interned at WFMZ-TV in Allentown, Penn., and WMGM-TV in Atlantic City, N.J.