broadcast journalism Archives | �鶹ԭ�� News

Journalism Student Accelerates a Career in Sports Media with NASCAR

Emily Dougherty — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 13:00:31 +0000

Allyson Castillo, a senior at �鶹ԭ�� studying broadcast journalism in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media (NSCM), spent ten weeks this summer as an intern for NASCAR’s content team, where she’s working on influencer relations, trend analysis and digital storytelling that brings the energy of the race track to its audiences.

Allyson Castillo, a broadcast journalism senior.

Castillo was only one of 40 students selected from more than 4,000 applicants for the . Interns from various academic backgrounds in the program are placed with teams and departments that stretch across the NASCAR industry, including 23XI Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Daytona International Speedway and more.

“It absolutely means the world to me to be chosen out of 4,000 applicants,” she says. “It’s truly incredible to work alongside professionals and see the reality of what it’s like to actually be working in this exciting industry.”

Castillo’s role within the content team gives her insight into the digital side of motorsports, where she helps the brand connect with new and existing fans.

“My department specifically works with influencers, inviting them to a track to spread awareness and create content that shares the love of the sport,” she says. “It’s been a great experience connecting and working with these influencers.”

Having this internship opened new doors for Castillo and provided her with the opportunity to travel to Chicago and see her work come to life.

“Traveling to Chicago for the first time and having the chance to work alongside talented professionals and help grow the sport through influencer outreach is fulfilling to see,” she says. “It showed me how hard work pays off.”

Castillo says she’s always been a fan of motorsports, which encouraged her to apply when she made connections in the industry though �鶹ԭ�� student organizations and opportunities such as the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) and NSCM’s Intern Pursuit.

“One of the people I met through networking opportunities on campus works in communications for NASCAR in Daytona,” Catillo says. “I connected with her to learn how to start in the industry. She was kind enough to share information about the NASCAR Next Internship Program.”

Castillo (center) was one of 40 students selected from more than 4,000 applicants for the NASCAR Next Internship Program.

As a first-generation college student, Castillo says her goals have been shaped by the hard work and devotedness she grew up surrounded by.

“My parents were very young when they moved to the United States and seeing their dedication has always inspired me to earn a degree,” she said. “It’s so important to provide a space for communities to share their voice and be heard — and journalism has helped provide that pathway for me.”

Castillo says she credits networking events and �鶹ԭ��’s student organizations for this incredible opportunity.

“If I didn’t go to these networking events or if I wasn’t part of student organizations here at �鶹ԭ��, I wouldn’t have made those important connections or even know that this internship exists,” she says.

Allyson Castillo with NASCAR Cup Series driver Christopher Bell.

As an engaged journalism student, Castillo shares that she has earned priceless professional experience in many areas of media, including NPR’s Are We There Yet? podcast, reporting on �鶹ԭ�� Athletics with ESPN+, partaking in Spanish spoken news broadcasts with NAHJ, and contributing to , �鶹ԭ��’s student-run news organization.

“The journalism program does a fantastic job in helping students connect with professionals,” she says. “Those opportunities really prepared me for the real world and taught me how to communicate effectively, meet deadlines, and thrive in a fast-paced environment.”

Remembering �鶹ԭ�� Alumnus, Spectrum News Reporter Dylan Lyons

Kyle Martin — Thu, 23 Feb 2023 21:29:14 +0000

An up-and-coming journalist and graduate from the Nicholson School of Communication and Media (NSCM) was killed Wednesday while reporting on the scene of a fatal shooting. Dylan Lyons ’19 was 24.

Lyons’ journalism professors remember him as a “confident and talented go-getter who was always up for a challenge and never turned down a story,” says NSCM Director Robert Littlefield.

“Dylan’s passing is a major loss for our entire community, and the media industry and our School are mourning,” Littlefield says.

Lyons joined the crew of Spectrum News 13 as a multimedia journalist in July 2022. He was reporting Wednesday in Pine Hills on an earlier fatal shooting in the neighborhood when shots were fired at him and another photojournalist identified by Spectrum as Jesse Walden. Walden remains in critical condition, Spectrum said.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office named Keith Kelvin Moses, 19, as a suspect in the shooting of Lyons and Walden. Following their shooting, police said, Moses walked into a nearby home and shot a woman and her 9-year-old daughter; the girl died. Moses was arrested Wednesday in connection with the initial shooting and will be charged later for the other shootings, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said.

Dylan Lyons ’19 is remembered as a dedicated reporter. (Photo courtesy of Spectrum News)

Lyons gained experience as a journalist first at �鶹ԭ��, where he majored in journalism and political science. Journalism Senior Instructor Rick Brunson worked closely with him for years, equipping him with skills and tools to match his passion.

“His brain was on fire with curiosity,” Brunson says. “He was always working on the next story.”

Lyons’ zeal for news reporting led him to three local news internships before graduation. He arrived for election night at WFTV in 2018 dressed in a suit, even though he would spend the evening crunching numbers at a desk not on camera.

“He showed up ready to play, looking sharp and acting sharp,” Brunson says.

Those internships steered Lyons toward community news as his preferred beat. What he discovered was that he loved lifting up a mirror to the community and saying, “This is you, the good, the bad and the ugly,” Brunson says. Covering a story like Wednesday’s shooting from the perspective of the neighborhood was exactly where he exceled, Brunson says.

He reported and anchored at student-led �鶹ԭ�� Knightly News. His first job after graduation was Gainesville’s ABC affiliate WCJB, where he was awarded best Politics/Elections Series by the Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists. He was a finalist for best Investigative Reporting in 2021.

In a Spectrum News 13 , reporter and friend Josh Miller said: “He took his job very seriously. … He loved the community (and) telling the stories of people.”

Littlefield, the NSCM director, says faculty work hard to share their expertise and knowledge with students so they have the tools they need for their careers. Lyons “excelled and used those tools to do what he loved,” Littlefield says.

“Dylan will be remembered for his professionalism that shined through from the start and led him to accomplish great things,” Littlefield says.

�鶹ԭ�� Alum is Making Her Dream Happen

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:35:27 +0000

As a �鶹ԭ�� Knight, Lauren LaFrantz Black reached for the stars—and now she talks to them. Well-known for her country music blog, she’s going to talk to more for the GRAMMY awards this February. But her story isn’t really about the starry fruits of her labor. It’s about how a �鶹ԭ�� student balanced academic excellence with an intense passion—and worked hard to blend the two into a homegrown media powerhouse.

For their blog, CountryMusicisLove.com (CMIL), Lauren and her close friend Erin Lefebvre quick-draw the news on country music, its stars and its new hits. Even well-known artists have said they can’t keep up with them. One major artist tweeted at them to say he often gets his news from Lauren and Erin’s site.

And that website is generating serious interest. In the last 30 days, they’ve had 212,000 hits (or visits) on their site.

She’s Homegrown. And Balanced.

Lauren remains loyal to �鶹ԭ�� and uses her training in broadcast journalism to be effective on the red carpet and have a non-gossip, ethical approach to what she does. After all, it was while she was at �鶹ԭ�� that it hit her what she really wanted to do—meld her degree with her passion for the music.

“I think her dedication to both school and the music is how she’s gotten to where she has,” says Dr. Tim Brown, one of Lauren’s professors from �鶹ԭ��’s broadcast journalism program. “If she missed a class to go to a concert, she would always come tell me and say ‘this assignment will be in early.’ And she always turned in work worthy of her achievements. It was always good.”

Tim thinks Lauren is a model for other students in �鶹ԭ��’s broadcast journalism program. Students of the subject sometimes enter the program because they just want to be on TV—they don’t have a passion driving their desire. And she was a great influence on other students in the program who saw her dedication and discipline. He even looks at Lauren as an example for himself.

“How does she do it all?” he asks. “She has a paying job as a consultant for a huge restaurant chain, does this website and always remained focused on school. And she never sat in the crying chair. While other students have hit that wall and cracked, she never did. She always had enthusiasm.”

Tim tells me more about Lauren’s loyalty to �鶹ԭ�� and to her home, Florida. She tells me she has no plans to move to Nashville anytime soon, despite requests from stars in the industry.

Nope. No plans to move. She’s pretty sure she’s staying right here in Central Florida—because it’s her home. Her dream started here, after all.

Childhood Dreams Realized.

“I grew up with country music. I remember listening to Trisha Yearwood’s ‘She’s in Love With a Boy’ in the car with my mother. That was the song that started it all for me,” she says. “And then I saw an Alan Jackson concert when I was, I think, 10 years old. Since then, it’s basically become my life.”

Add one degree and mix it with drive and you’ve got a recipe for success.

Still committed to the values she learned at �鶹ԭ��, Lauren’s no-diva approach to her recent fame is reflected in her business-casual conversation. She’s relatable; her smile is warm and her hair is tied neatly into a ponytail while she holds a cup of coffee. For a woman who mingles with the stars on the red carpet, chatting with the likes of GRAMMY Award-winning artist Miranda Lambert, she is surprisingly grounded.

Artists like Luke Bryan link to their site—and these are the days when the visitor numbers spike even higher. They’ve had their site crashed before due to the high number of hits.

Behind the industry-mingling blog are two very down-to-earth women who are still fans at heart. The name of the blog says it all.

Shared Passion. Shared Success.

“I met Erin at a Kenny Chesney concert in New York in the summer of 2007 and we just clicked. She lives in Maine, but we would talk on the phone for hours about the music—new singles, new stars.”

The two grew close quickly and, in 2008, Lauren’s then-boyfriend (who is now her husband) casually suggested they start a blog. They figured it would be fun.

Lauren didn’t think there would be enough stories to post breaking news every day. They had no idea that day what they were in for. “And boy, was I wrong,” she says. “There’s just two of us and sometimes we post 20-25 news postings a day.”

Lauren’s �鶹ԭ�� education in broadcast journalism is crucial, as they do national radio call-ins for news reports, interviews with stars and labels and phone calls with the stars to hear new singles directly. Lauren once had to talk to �鶹ԭ��’s Knightly News in the hallway at �鶹ԭ��. And that happened several times for radio call-ins, as well.

It’s hard work, but she loves it.

This Labor is Love.

The blog is for fans, by fans. Just as its name indicates, all of the work is about the love for the music. They love it, but the reality is that it now costs money to maintain. Erin and Lauren have had some hard times where they had to be financially inventive.

“There were times when we just couldn’t pay the bills. The website costs thousands of dollars a year to maintain—we have to pay for our servers and the tools you need to run them. We have someone who helps us with the development side,” she says. “There have been times when Erin and I looked at one another and asked, ‘Why are we doing this?’ But the answer is always love.”

When they finally just had too many readers to service and too many bills to pay, they turned to their fans for donations.

“We’re not in this to make money, but there are costs. It was amazing how much support people gave us through donations. We made the bills that month. It almost made me cry.”

But they kept going. Love might be the drive, but discipline puts it to good use.

The GRAMMY Awards.

In addition to covering the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards and the Country Music Television (CMT) Awards, the website has just hit a new level of success.

CountryMusicIsLove is the official GRAMMY.com Blogger for Country Music for the 54th GRAMMY Awards.

We’ll be watching the blog to see just how many artists CMIL gets to interview and just how much larger that little idea back in 2008 becomes after the awards ceremony.

It’s big, now, but we’re pretty sure it’s going to go boom.