Sandra Steele, Educational Consultant

Chapman Student Wins $25,000 KTLA Broadcast Audition

ORANGE, Calif., November 29, 2006 -- Chapman University senior Emily Wilson has won the $25,000 KTLA-TV College Audition, the television station announced today on the KTLA Morning News. The broadcast journalism senior, who hails from Westminster, Colorado, triumphed over an entrant pool that started out weeks ago with literally hundreds of hopeful university students.

From that group, the station selected 16 applicants – including Wilson and students from UCLA, USC, Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Long Beach, among others – to participate in a multi-round series of live auditions. The entrants were winnowed down week by week after appearing on KTLA’s news broadcasts, from 16 to eight to four, and then from three to two.

The final two competitors were Wilson and Cameron Abundes, a senior from Cal State Fullerton. They each broadcast live from their respective campuses earlier this week. Wilson was faced with a rainy, cold Monday morning as she broadcast live starting at 7 a.m. from in front of Chapman’s Memorial Hall, but she took the challenge in stride. (It helped that Chapman President James Doti was there, holding an umbrella for her – as well as a large cheering section of Chapman students and faculty members who braved the wet, chilly weather.)

“The contest was open to all Southern California college and university students,” said KTLA producer Leila Shaloub. “From the hundreds of entrants, we narrowed it down to 16 finalists who actually competed on camera. Over the course of several weeks, they did live reports, including weather, entertainment and sports, and each round was judged by a panel of experts and voted on by our viewers. We narrowed that field down to the final two, who then did live reports from their universities.”

Wilson says that she’s still in shock from the thrill of winning. “It almost seems surreal,” she said. “It all happened so fast. The best part of all, of course, was being able to represent Chapman University in this fantastic competition.”

She says the hardest part of the contest was “just not letting my nerves get the best of me. You have to let go of it and just go with the flow.” Her favorite segment of the competition? “Broadcasting live from a Clippers game was a standout for me. Walking into the arena, with all the excitement going on and so much to look at, I really had to focus hard on what I was doing.”

Pete Weitzner, head of the broadcast journalism department in Chapman’s Dodge College of Media Arts, is Wilson’s faculty advisor. “Emily’s win is great for our school and our program, but more than anything it’s a great thing to happen to a truly good person,” he said. “I’ve known her for going on four years now, and she has great values in addition to her obvious talent. You love to see someone win who deserves to win.”

Weitzner added that Wilson’s victory also underscores his philosophy of teaching broadcast journalism. “I’ve taught here for nine years, and one thing we’ve done, from our students’ first days as freshmen, is to make them do live shots – which is something not every school does. I’ve always told them that kind of experience will pay off when they’re seeking employment. Emily’s win is a great real-world example of how basing our program not on textbooks, but on real-life experience, helps our students to succeed.”

KTLA-TV, a Tribune Broadcasting station, is a commercial, CW-affiliated television station located in Hollywood and serving the Los Angeles and Orange County-area markets.