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Two ������ Utica Campus students are among 10 selected for the inaugural Gray Media Training Center internship program for Fall 2022.

Women’s soccer player Harmony Porter of Ridgeland (above left) and Miss ������ Tiara Jackson of Terry (above right) have been selected for the training program.

This 14-week training, which takes place at WLBT News, helps educate and train the next generation of Mississippi media professionals with an emphasis on students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). This internship will let the students rotate to different departments at the station and give them a chance to complete a student-led newscast upon completion of the program.

Both Porter and Jackson are participants in the Radio and Television Production and Broadcasting Technology program on the Utica Campus. The program led by instructor Tim Crisler helps students prepare for a variety of careers in broadcast media.

“I believe this is a great opportunity for me to go ahead and get my name out there to help me start my career,” Porter said. “I knew my interview went well, and I am excited to get started.”

Upon completion of her degree, Porter plans to pursue a career in marketing with an emphasis on video content creation.

“I am so blessed for the opportunity,” Jackson said. “It shows that my hard work in Mr. Crisler’s class has paid off, and I can show young girls that they can be anything they want to be no matter who they are and where they come from.”

Jackson plans to major in journalism with a minor in music education at an HBCU.

“I am so proud of Tiara and Harmony being selected to participate in this one of a kind and very unique internship opportunity,” Crisler said. “WLBT is and has been one of Hinds Radio and Television Production and Broadcast Technology industry partners for years and now to have their parent company Gray Media coming along side working with students at HBCU schools is an added bonus,” Crisler said.

“Being a former employee of WLBT, I am extremely pleased to have my students taking what they’ve learned in our hands-on campus television station and building on it in the actual every day media industry with top notch professionals,” he said.