LSU Senior Birdie O'Connell Receives Louisiana Association of Broadcasters Scholarship
April 18, 2023
BATON ROUGE—The Louisiana Association of Broadcasters (LAB) recognized LSU Manship School of
Mass Communication senior Birdie O'Connell, a Tiger TV sports journalist and Manship
Ambassador, with the LAB Broadcast Scholarship at the 2023 LAB Prestige Awards. O’Connell
was one of two students in the state to earn the $4,000 scholarship.
“It is an incredible honor to be a recipient of this particular scholarship,” O’Connell
said. “It has been my dream since freshman year to get it. It is extremely competitive,
and only two students are chosen each year out of all the Louisiana colleges and universities.
I was so excited and quite frankly, speechless. It felt like a dream come true, seeing
in the email the word ‘congratulations.’ ”
O’Connell, a Charlotte, North Carolina native studying mass communication with a concentration
in broadcast journalism, started off as a sports reporter for the campus newspaper,
The Reveille, in her freshman year. In that role, she covered swimming, diving and
beach volleyball. She was also the secretary/treasurer and proactive co-chair for
the LSU Public Relations Student Society of America during her sophomore year. She
has been a sports reporter at Tiger TV, LSU’s student-run television station, for
the past year.
O’Connell always knew she wanted to pursue a career in broadcast journalism, specifically
sports broadcasting. She also knew the Manship School and Tiger TV at LSU would be
her home. Some of her favorite Tiger TV experiences have been covering the LSU vs.
Ole Miss football game and the NCAA Women’s Basketball first-round game in the LSU
PMAC.
“I remember in 8th grade seeing Erin Andrews on TV reporting on an NFL football game
and saying to my family, ‘That is what I am going to do one day,’ ” O'Connell said.
“From then on, it has been my passion and drive to work hard in achieving my dream
of becoming a sports reporter.”
For a list of all 2023 Prestige Award winners, visit broadcasters.org/prestige-awards/.
The annual awards ceremony recognizes outstanding achievements by Louisiana radio and television broadcasters. The competition was established to encourage the highest standards of reporting, community service and production creativity.
For more information, contact acharbonnet1@lsu.edu.
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LSU Student Media provides media experiences to students through The Reveille newspaper, lsureveille.com, and The Reveille mobile app; Tiger TV; KLSU-FM radio; and Gumbo yearbook. All four outlets are led and staffed by students, supported by professionals, and provide real- world experience for aspiring broadcasters, program directors, writers, editors, photographers and videographers, web producers, designers and others. Many participating students are pursuing majors through LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication.
LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication ranks among the strongest collegiate communication programs in the country, with its robust emphasis on media and public affairs. It offers undergraduate degrees in public relations, journalism, political communication, digital advertising and pre-law, along with four graduate degree programs: Master of Mass Communication, Ph.D. in Media and Public Affairs, Certificate of Strategic Communication and dual MMC/Law degree.
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