FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Breybinda Alvarez, a University of Arkansas student in the Lemke Department of Journalism, will spend the summer before her senior year in an exclusive internship program with the Television Academy Foundation. The Academy is best known for awarding Emmys for prime time television. Its foundation aims at preserving television’s legacy while expanding the voices the industry represents.

Alvarez starts work June 19 in Los Angeles, America’s No. 2 television market. She will report for FOX 11, while also participating in professional development through the North Hollywood-based academy.

“I’m excited for this opportunity to report on a larger stage.” Alvarez said. “There’s so many things going on in minority communities. I love journalism and hope this is a chance for me to improve the public’s trust in the media.’’

Each year 50 college students nationwide are selected for internships through the Television Academy Foundation. Alvarez is the foundation's only broadcast news intern this year. The paid internship program also covers things like television script writing and documentary production.

“Breybinda is one of our hardworking, talented students showcasing their training in high profile positions around the country,’’ said Gina Shelton, internship coordinator for the journalism department.

Shelton said Alvarez is another success story of the Lemke Journalism Project, the department’s minority outreach program. Wendy Echeverria, a program graduate and senior, is interning this summer for NBC's ``Dateline’’ in New York.

In her junior and senior years at Rogers High School, Alvarez took a bus to the U of A campus for weekend writing and production sessions with journalism professors. She received a Lemke Journalism Project scholarship to help her pursue her degree. She is due to graduate in May 2018.

The Los Angeles internship is her second. She spent last summer at La Prensa Libre, the Spanish-language newspaper published by the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

“If it wasn’t for LJP, I would have missed out on this opportunity,” Alvarez said. “The faculty has been incredible in preparing me for success. Their advice to me has been to follow my dreams.”

More information about the Television Academy Foundation is available on their website.