Reporter, a TU alum, goes viral for hilarious bison video

Deion Broxton, class of '15, was reporting a story on a national park when he had to think fast.

By Cody Boteler on March 26, 2020

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Deion Broxton, ’15, learned the ropes of TV journalism in his Towson University classes and internships.

In broadcast journalism classes, Broxton said, he’d work to put together news packages – shooting video, recording audio and conducting interviews. In internships with WBAL-TV and the Towson Sports Network, he’d shoot and edit video, and write TV news scripts.

He learned the ins and outs of being a multimedia TV journalist, or a “one-man band” as it’s known in the industry – a reporter who works alone, reporting and operating a video camera without the assistance of a video journalist.

But as it turns out, not quite everything can be learned in the classroom. Earlier this week, Broxton, now a TV reporter in Montana for KTVM NBC, went viral online when he posted a video of himself standing outside Yellowstone National Park.

In the video, Broxton is recording a stand-up, which is when a reporter talks about a story directly to the audience. While he’s recording, Broxton’s eyes keep darting back and forth, and the video ends with him grabbing the camera while it is still recording and getting it quickly in his car.

“Oh, no, I ain’t messing with you,” he says in the video.

A small herd of bison was nearby and steadily getting closer, Broxton said, and he wasn’t going to take any risks.

“I definitely think Towson professors prepared me well,” Broxton said. “But nothing could prepare a guy who grew up in Baltimore to deal with the wildlife in Montana. I’m used to rats, not bison.”

Broxton’s video has been viewed on Twitter over 7 million times and given joy to many people staying home during the coronavirus pandemic. Early Thursday morning, the proud Towson alum said his phone was still blowing up with notifications as he prepared for work.

Professor Jenny Atwater, a former TV reporter who now teachers broadcast and other journalism classes at TU, said she wasn’t that surprised to see her former student go viral online.

“He was funny, he always had a lot of personality in class,” she said.

Atwater tries to have Towson graduates speak to her journalism classes as often as possible, so that students can see success stories and get a first-hand account of the journalism industry. Broxton is always willing and happy to talk with students, she said.

“It’s just really nice to see former students doing so well, and doing what he loves.
It’s great. I never had any doubt that Deion would do well,” she said.

Broxton said he loved his time at TU, and was always glad to hear from working reporters when he was a student. He’s always happy to speak to current students.

“It feels good to help students out, because you wish that you did have someone who was there to help you along the way,” Broxton said. “I enjoyed when we would have former students come to school and talk to me. It’s like living proof that this person who sat in the same chair that I did, is doing what I want to do.”

And for Atwater, who said she is preparing all her classes for distance learning, the kind of success that Broxton is experiencing is exactly what she hopes to see.

“I’m a professor at TU because of my students,” she said. “I loved being a TV news reporter, and I love passing that along and seeing my students thrive.”