On The PULSE: UTC Student Journalists At Tennessee’s State Capitol

By Ray Bassett

Published May 11, 2026 at 12:23 AM EDT

Josh Azriel - with students Jonathan Walker, Yahinness Lum, Grace Steele, Brandon Denley (behind Grace), Zach Lewis and Kayelyn McCaslin - standing in front of the Tennessee State Capitol at the Cordell Hull State Office Building.

(Aired Weds 5/06/26)

For a few days in March, student journalists from our campus - the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga - traveled to Nashville.

They visited the Tennessee State Capitol - and covered the regular session of the Tennessee General Assembly - for the PULSE Project, a student journalism initiative in UTC’s Department of Communication.

PULSE stands for Public Understanding Through Local and Statehouse Engagement - and through their class at UTC, the students reported and produced their own stories.

Thanks to a collaboration between UTC’s Department of Communication and WUTC, I had the opportunity to join the class during their trip to Nashville.

On this episode of “Scenic Roots,” we bring you two roundtable conversations, recorded at the Tennessee State Capitol.

Josh Azriel is the instructor of the PULSE Project class here at UTC.

Joining us for the roundtables are six students in the class: Kayelyn McCaslin, Brandon Denley, Zach Lewis, Jonathan Walker, Yahinness Lum and Grace Steele.

Student Brandon Denley, interviewing Tennessee Governor Bill Lee outside his office at the Tennessee State Capitol.

Ray Bassett, Zach Lewis, State Senator Bo Watson, Grace Steele, Josh Azriel, Brandon Denley and Jonathan Walker - waving the Power C for UTC during a visit to Sen. Watson’s office.