Rhode Island Teen Journalist Heads to The University of Missouri Thanks in Part to Rhode Island PBS and The Public’s Radio

Photo courtesy of Scarlett Biancuzzo.

Bristol native Scarlett Biancuzzo earned one of Rhode Island’s premier scholarships as she pursues her dream of becoming a broadcast journalist. 

Each year Rhode Island PBS and The Public’s Radio give out a scholarship to a student who is pursuing a career in journalism, broadcasting or communications. The scholarship is worth up to $60,000 and is renewable for four years. The goal of the scholarship is to invest and take care of southern New England’s future journalists. This year, thirty-eight students from southern Massachusetts and Rhode Island applied for the scholarship, but it was Barrington graduate Scarlett Biancuzzo who earned the scholarship. 

Despite being a Bristol resident, Biancuzzo chose to attend Barrington High School because of the school’s Career and Technical Education Program in television production. Biancuzzo has had interest in TV journalism from a young age and Barrington provided the launch pad needed to explore that interest. 

“Since a young age I always loved sitting down with adults and listening to them tell stories… So, when I realized there is a career where you get to listen to people and tell their story, report on interesting things, and also talk for a living, that really piqued my interest,” says Biancuzzo. 

Like many kids, Biancuzzo was often told she talked too much in class and so this career path stuck out to her as an opportunity to continue being herself. 

“Since a young age I’ve always been told I talk too much in class, so I was like ‘Well I’ll never get yelled at for talking too much if I go into a career where they want me to talk,” says Biancuzzo. 

As Biancuzzo graduates from Barrington High School, she heads off to the University of Missouri (Mizzou) where she’ll major in journalism and political science. 

“Their program, just that hands on approach, I’m really excited about. I’m a hands-on learner and with journalism I feel like it’s best to learn by doing,” says Biancuzzo. 

At Barrington, Biancuzzo grew immensely through the Eagle News Network as she was able to research, film and edit news packages early in her high school career. By her sophomore year Biancuzzo was a producer and the lead anchor, all thanks to her early start and full-time commitment to the program. 

“It’s probably the most important thing I did throughout all of high school; I would give all credit to my advisor Mr. West,” says Biancuzzo. “Doing that [the program] made me love journalism even more and then led to even more opportunities where I was able to get an internship at the State House.” 

The opportunity to get hands-on experience at a young age helped sharpen Biancuzzo’s skillset. Using her developing talent, Biancuzzo highlighted the well-being of healthcare professionals during the Covid-19 pandemic in a news package that showcased dedication and quick thinking beyond her years.  

During Biancuzzo’s freshman year at Barrington she set out with the goal to make this package happen. She called every hospital in Rhode Island hoping to get one interview and be granted permission to film within the walls of any of them. Unfortunately for Biancuzzo, the pandemic made this impossible as no hospital would give her the time or resources she needed. Despite this roadblock, the ambitious Biancuzzo wasn’t going to stop. 

“I was like, you know what, At least I’ll film my introduction in front of the Newport Hospital,” says Biancuzzo. “I set up my camera, did my filming and someone had come out and I explained what I was doing, and they grabbed a nurse for me!” 

The project was a huge success and laid down the foundation for Biancuzzo’s future success. It was a great hands on experience for Biancuzzo and provided something new for the young journalist while giving her a reason to get outside of her comfort zone and work with individuals who she didn’t already know.  

“That probably piqued my interest the most because I worked hands on with someone I didn’t know. In school you do your interviews, you’re interviewing teachers, the principal, your superintendent and while that’s amazing, this was a complete stranger who was a nurse and this was her actual career and I was able to speak with her, it was so cool,” says Biancuzzo. 

It was this project that was the highlight of Biancuzzo’s time at Barrington as it shined light on one of the lesser talked about topics of the pandemic. To Pam Johnston, president and CEO of Ocean State Media, Biancuzzo represents the opportunity for young journalists to reinvigorate broadcast journalism.  

“I just love the fact that they present this scholarship, specifically in a field like journalism. I think it’s great this scholarship encourages students to pursue this career as it’s such an important career,” says Biancuzzo. 

Additionally, during high school Biancuzzo was an AP Scholar student who was part of the National Honors Society and received awards like the Rhode Island Civic Leadership Award and Principal’s Leadership Award. She was also the president of Best Buddies and a member of the Barrington Crew team. Of course, Biancuzzo has plans to remain a model student while at Mizzou. 

“They [Mizzou] connect you to KMU media and they are the only college to be direct affiliates with an NBC program, so you start working there and your work gets pushed out to forty-four counties. I’m someone who likes to stay busy so I’m thinking of maybe doing intermural teams and there are lots of internships for me to take on through the sports teams. I’m just excited to get involved on campus,” says Biancuzzo. 

Over the past decade many have viewed broadcast journalism as rapidly losing its creditability. However, young journalists like Biancuzzo present an opportunity for change and provide others who aspire to be in her position with wise words. 

“Take every opportunity, even if it’s not your favorite. It’s how you’ll build your way up,” says Biancuzzo. 

For Biancuzzo, with or without this scholarship, broadcast journalism was always the path for her and of course she is extremely grateful for this opportunity. 

“Receiving this award is validation that the perseverance I have put forth over the past four years has paid off. This generous PBS scholarship will, no doubt, significantly decrease the financial burden of college while simultaneously allowing me to focus on my ultimate goal of becoming a broadcast journalist,” says Biancuzzo. 

As Biancuzzo gets ready to make the 1,300-mile journey to Columbia, Missouri, she is thinking ahead about the topics she’ll be able to cover as a young TV journalist looking to make her mark. 

“I’m really interested in covering the cultural aspect of the town, like the meshing of the college students and the community because it seems to intertwine really well. It’s just such a different culture so I really look forward to expanding my horizons,” says Biancuzzo. 

The Public’s Radio and Rhode Island PBS, which recently merged under the name Ocean State Media, have been giving away scholarships for eight years now. They have been able to invest in the future of Rhode Island media via a million-dollar fund created by the Rhode Island Foundation.