Patricia Burkett is a recent graduate of the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies with a major in broadcast journalism and a minor in English. She recently won fifth place in the nation in the feature competition of the Hearst Awards, sometimes called the "Pulitzers" of college journalism. More than 60 students from journalism and mass communications programs competed in the annual event.

Finishing in the top five means Burkett moves on to the second round of the competition in which she must complete two more stories. If she remains in the top five after the second round, she will go to San Francisco to compete in the finals.

Click on the image to watch the news features Burkett submitted to the Hearst Committee. (Requires QuickTime Video.)

Double homicides. Fatal car accidents. Destructive fires
by Addie Bradshaw

Reporting on a November heat wave? It’s not exactly what comes to mind when we think of “award winning” journalism.

Even Patricia Burkett, the award winner herself, readily acknowledges it.

“I think it’s crazy. I never anticipated even placing. I didn’t really think anyone who didn’t know me would get my packages, but I guess they did,” Burkett says.

In a day when most television newsrooms are bombarded with crime, education, and political stories, Burkett considers her own style a breath of fresh air. But she says it took some time to become comfortable doing what she loves.

“I thought that news had to be hard news and that I had to stifle my sarcasm when it came to reporting. When I finally did try a feature package, though, it was amazing,” she says.

So what’s the secret to Burkett’s feature-reporting success? Perhaps a lot of it lies within her own sarcastic nature.

When the mercury rose to 81 degrees one stifling November day, Burkett saw the perfect time to mock the Palmetto State’s hot, humid weather.

One can of spray-on snow later, and she was ready for duty. Standing under a blazing sun in Riverfront Park, she whipped out the fake snow and coated the tree behind her. She then told viewers it might be their only chance to see the “white stuff” in Columbia.

Burkett says the other secret to feature reporting is all about the characters. “That’s what makes a story good, not your writing, not your video, but the characters in them. That’s what people remember.”

She encountered one of her favorite characters this past fall during her broadcast senior semester.

While doing a story about the need to slow the traffic on Harden Street, she interviewed a rather candid pedestrian. She said he seemed to have his own solution to the traffic that speeds down Harden Street.

“I ain’t calling no cops, I ain’t goin’ to no doctor, I don’t want no money. …We gonna fight!” she remembers him saying.

Those types of characters Burkett says should be the essence of every news story, whether serious or light-hearted. But don’t be fooled. Burkett says she can still write a hard news story any day.

“I’ll still do the murder or robbery story if I have to,” she says. But if I have a choice in life, I would rather make people laugh than make them sad.”