EXECUTIVE STAFF
Alex Martin
Program Director
Alex is a junior Broadcasting-Communications major from Trenton, Tennessee. He is the host of the weekly radio show Something Wicked.
Daniel Mancusi
Sports Director
Daniel Mancusi is a sophomore Mass Media and Communications broadcast major from Kansas City, Missouri. He assumed the role of Sports Director for WUTM this year. Daniel is a play-by-play announcer/color analyst for WUTM on football and basketball broadcasts for Westview High School and UT Martin. Daniel is also the host of the sports talk show The Bench. He also participates on campus at the Wesley Foundation. After graduation, Daniel hopes to continue his broadcast announcing career in the professional ranks.
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Carson Alexander
Digital Media Director
Carson is a junior in Mass Media and Strategic Communication with a focus in media design with a minor in marketing from Martin, Tennessee. Carson does branding for social media, and design for WUTM. Carson is the host of Let's Talk Greek, where she interviews alums, sororities, and fraternities about the positive impact of Greek life and what it can offer an individual. In the 2024 International Broadcasting Awards in New York City, Carson was a Best Social Media Director finalist. Her other campus involvements include being an active Alpha Omicron Pi sorority member, where she holds Bible studies and activities as Chaplin and takes pictures for her sorority. A member of the National Society of Leadership and Success and also served as a 2023 PEP Leader for incoming freshmen at UT Martin; She is an active college member of First Baptist Church in Martin, where she serves and mentors a group of middle schoolers. After graduation, she hopes to pursue a career in branding in entertainment or sports while getting her masters in communications to become a professor.
Katelyn Cohee
Production Director
Katelyn is a junior Mass Media and Strategic Communications major focusing in Broadcasting and Multimedia Production, from Thompsons's Station, Tennessee. She serves WUTM as the Production Director. Outside of WUTM, Katelyn also serves as a PEP Leader on campus for incoming freshaman where she helps them get acclimated to college life and serves as a person for them to come to with anything. She also covers social media for Westview High School and UT Martin football by posting pre-game information, score updates, and final scores on Instagram, Facebook and X. After graduation she hopes to work as a sideline reporter or work as a communications coordinator with an organization within the NFL.
Lauryn Davis
News Director
Lauryn Davis is a Junior Broadcast and Multimedia Production MMSC Major from Memphis Tennessee. Lauryn is the WUTM News Director and creates and edits the daily news for the station. She also hosts the public affairs talk show, For the Record where she talks and interviews special guests from UT Martin and surrounding community to discuss things that students need to know. On campus Lauryn is the President of her sorority chapter, member of the Student-Goverment Assosication, Women in communication, the National Association of Black journalists, and Southern Greek Leadership Association Student Advisory Board Member. After graduating, she hopes to work in a local newsroom as a reporter or anchor.
LeeAnne Morefield
Assistant News Director
LeeAnne is a junior Broadcast Mass Media and Strategic Communications major from Dresden Tn. LeeAnne is Assistant News Director for WUTM. She helps to create and edit the daily news for the station. Her other campus involvement includes being an active member in Alpha Delta Pi sorority. She is also an active member in her church Martin First United Methodist Church. After she graduates she hopes to become a news anchor.
Carlin Cochran
Support & Development Director
Carlin is a junior Broadcast-Mass Media and Strategic Communication major with a Theater minor, from Centerville, Tennessee. Outside of WUTM, Carlin is involved in the Fine Arts Department at UT Martin. After graduation, she hopes to be a theater and journalism teacher.
Christian Bryson
Chief Forecaster
Christian Bryson is a sophomore meteorology major from Jackson, Tennessee. Christian is the Chief Forecaster, responsible for your reliable and relatable daily rundown, weather-wise, for the Ken-Tenn region. Don't you dare limit him to weather, though, as his passion and jubilation for sports place him on the WUTM's sports crew as a sideline reporter/color commentator for Westview and UT Martin football and basketball games. He is also the co-host of The Bench, the popular award-winning sports talk show on WUTM. Christian is the vice-president of UT Martin's Student Chapter of the American Meteorological Society, a Student Alumni Council member, and the NAACP Student Chapter member. After graduation, Christian aspires to become a broadcast meteorologist. In doing so, he longs to innovate and collaborate on revolutionary methods of communication, education, inspiration, and legislation to effectively enhance the safety of sectors of people through all modes of weather.
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ADVISORS & FACULTY
Dr. Richard Robinson
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Robinson is a Professor in the Department of Mass Media and Strategic Communication and has been the faculty advisor for WUTM since 2001. He teaches courses in radio broadcasting and public speaking, public relations, and broadcast writing. Robinson worked in the radio industry for 20 years in various roles, including on-air talent, morning show host, news reporter, and sales and programming. He also worked 14 years in state government public relations for the Department of Human Services in his home* state of Arkansas. Robinson was names the University of Tennessee Alumni Association's "Outstanding Teacher of the Year" twice, in 2007 and 2020. In 2020, He was presented with the prestigious University of Tennessee System's President's Award in the category of "Educate." Robinson holds a bachelor of science journalism from the University of Central Arkansas, a master of arts in journalism (radio-television-film) from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and a Ph.D. in mass communication and media arts from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.​
Mr. Rodney Freed
Director of Broadcast Services
Mr. Freed is an Instructor in the Department of Mass Media and Strategic Communication and is the Director of Broadcast Services at UT Martin. He worked in the television industry for many years, including a dual role as the Director of Production for WBBH-TV (NBC) and WZVN-TV (ABC in Ft. Meyers, Florida. As the Director of Broadcast Services, Freed is responsible for all production for ESPN+ sports broadcasts and all other productions at UTM Television, where is serves as the faulty advisor. He is revered as an outstanding photographer, videographer, editor, director, and producer. He has worked as a freelance director for the local PBS affiliate WLJT (West TN PBS). Freed holds membership in the National Press Photographers Association and the Society of Broadcast Engineers. He earned a Bachelor of Science in journalism and a Master of Arts in Journalism from Murray State University.
Brian Thomas
Senior Broadcast Engineer
Skilled in many aspects of the broadcast industry, Mr. Thomas has been a broadcaster in both radio and television for over 20 years in the West Tennessee and Southwest Kentucky markets. A multifaceted broadcast professional, Thomas has served in the roles of Disc Jockey, Engineer, Digital Director, and Operations Manager positions for nearly two decades in radio. In television, Thomas has produced newscasts, served as a reporter, videographer, and engineer, produced television ads, and has been a technical director for local television programs. Brian holds certifications in both on-air and digital advertising from the Radio Advertising Bureau. In addition to WUTM radio and UTM Television. In 2023, Thomas was honored by the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System with the prestigious "Tom Gibson Outstanding Engineer Award." Thomas currently serves part-time roles as a disc jockey, a news writer, a reporter and a weather forecaster. He performs contract work as an engineer for several radio stations across Tennessee. During times of severe weather, Thomas can be found at at ktweather.net tracking storms on his live streams also carried on West Tennessee radio stations. In addition, Thomas is an amateue radio operator and Skywarn storm spotter.
Dr. Robert Nanney
Department Chair
Dr. Nanney serves as department chair with 15 years’ experience in print journalism as a reporter, photographer, and managing editor. He has won several teaching awards including the Outstanding Teaching Award by the UT National Alumni Association and has been a faculty member with the TN Governor’s School for the Humanities for 20 years. He is co-founder of the department’s Media Design sequence. His research specialty is community journalism, and his creative activity involves photojournalism and desktop publishing. He is immediate past president of the UTM Faculty Senate. He holds numerous committee assignments, including the Tennessee Press Association Journalism Committee and the National Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication’s Contemporary Leadership Committee.
