NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University alumna BriYonna Collins was part of a team from WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge to bring home an Emmy award in the Newscast – Morning – Smaller Markets category. WAFB 9News This Morning won the category for the second year in a row. This year’s entry included the station’s morning coverage of Hurricane Laura making landfall in Louisiana. Collins is a news producer at WAFB where she has been on staff since 2020.
Collins is a Baton Rouge native who earned a degree in communications at NSU in 2019. At NSU, she participated in ROTC and involved with KNWD, the campus radio station.
Collins, who serves part time in the U. S. Army Reserve as an 88 November or transportation manager, is currently deployed with her unit to the Middle East. This month marks the sixth year of her military contract.
“After leaving NSU, I went back to work at WAFB where I completed my internship in college. I have been there for a little over a year,” Collins said. “I began as an associate producer helping with the station’s 5 a.m.-7 a.m. morning show and cut ins. Within a few months I was promoted to full time and became the sole producer of 9New’s This Morning Early Edition which is a 30-minute show that airs before the 2-hour regular show.”
Collins’ unit left the U.S. in August and she hopes to be back this summer.
At NSU, she earned a degree in mass communications with a concentration in broadcast and digital media and a minor in English. She was involved with ROTC, although she did not complete the program. As a freshman, she was elected as a senator with the Student Government Assocaition and remained a senator until she left for basic training. She was sports director for KNWD and worked with David Antilley, director of NSU TV, filming basketball games. She also worked a short time with NSULA News as a backup anchor and cameraman and was a member of Lifted Voices gospel choir and community service group.
Information on NSU’s Department of New Media, Journalism and Communications Arts can be found at https://www.nsula.edu/newmedia/.
