Former Tennessee Tribune intern writes award-winning book

TN Tribune-Leona Towner, a former intern with The Tennessee Tribune, has written her debut nonfiction guide to being an on-air multimedia journalist. The publication, “23 and On TV: How to be a MMJ Day-to-Day,” provides an honest look into the realities of journalism. The book debuted late summer at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Convention and has since won NABJ’s Outstanding Book Award. Towner came to The Tennessee Tribune by way of Tennessee State University’s school paper, The Meter, while a student in the TSU Department of Communications. “The Tennessee Tribune was my first news internship,” Towner said. “It showed me how newspapers were run, and I loved how the content was very community-based and celebrated the accomplishments of African Americans throughout the country.” She added, “Reading Mrs. Perry’s editorials really taught me how to write more conversationally.” After Towner left the newspaper, she began working in both national and local television newsrooms. Her debut book ‘23 and on TV’ is about how to do the job of a multimedia journalist post-2020. “Most books about journalism are about how to get a job, and this one is literally about how to do it,” she said. “Step-by-step ‘23 and...