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Hometown: Kinston, N.C.
Residence: Greensboro, N.C. Education: Elon University, expected 2013 M.A. Interactive Media UNC-Chapel Hill, 2009 B.A. Journalism and Spanish Skills: Reporting, blogging and editing; Graphic design, video editing and web development (Adobe Creative Suite 6); HTML, CSS; Web content management (Drupal); Social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Hootsuite) Language: Conversational Spanish. International Experience: Galapagos Islands, Ecuador; Mexico City; London; Rome; Dusseldorf, Germany; Morocco; and Spain (several sites over four months). Affiliations: National Association of Black Journalists; Triad Association of Black Journalists. |
MEET DIONI
Courtesy of H. Scott Hoffman/News & Record
I am a master's candidate in Elon University's Interactive Media program. The rigorous curriculum helps me enhance my skills in multimedia storytelling and learn about digital media strategy.
For three years, I covered crime and breaking news in Greensboro, N.C., for the third largest newspaper in the state — the News & Record and its website, www.news-record.com. I reported about everything from spot news to features on a daily deadline, updated the website and wrote posts for The Crime Scene blog. I completed two summer internships at the News & Record in 2007 and 2008 as a Landmark Scholar. During that period, I was a freelance sports reporter for the newspaper. I took over the public safety reporting position in summer 2009 after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While in college, I mastered a comprehensive study of sports media ethics and practices in the Sports Communication Program; took photos and reported in English and Spanish for The Carrboro Commons; and shot and edited video as a multimedia reporter for The Daily Tar Heel. I earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and Spanish from UNC-Chapel Hill, where I married my love of travel and journalism. A Kinston, N.C. native, I studied abroad in Spain, Mexico and Ecuador. In 2009, I accompanied 22 other UNC-Chapel Hill students to the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador. I researched information in English and Spanish to design and program Flash-based, interactive graphics for the Living Galapagos website, which is the student-produced, multimedia website about the human impact on the Galapagos Islands. I have been an active member of the National Association of Black Journalists since 2005. I am the Vice President of Print for the Triad Association of Black Journalists, of which I am a founding member, and was Vice President of the Carolina Association of Black Journalists at UNC-Chapel Hill. With a pen, Steno pad, iPhone in my pocket and growing bag of gadgets, I am eager to take on new roles as a journalist and digital media strategist. |