Daralene Jones (Class of 2003) is an anchor for WFTV Channel 9 in Orlando and an Emmy award-winning investigativereporter. She was the executive producer of the “The Ocoee Massacre,” a television documentary detailing what sparked the killings of Blacks and destruction of their property on Election Day 1920 in Ocoee, Fla. She also produced “Groveland Four: Journey to Exoneration,” the story of four Black men who were wrongly accused of raping a white woman in 1949. Her reporting on police use of force in 2019 prompted several police agencies to audit their reporting of excessive force cases. She was the first to expose gang violence connected to a string of murders, forcing the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to bring in assistance from the FBI. Her extensive reporting on the lack of COVID-19 reporting for day cares prompted the Florida Department of Health to change course and start tracking cases at day cares and schools statewide. Before joining Channel 9, Jones reported in Decatur, Springfield, Memphis and Philadelphia. In February 2024, she published her first children’s book, Luke Learns, the first in a series about dedicated but often unseen community helpers. Jones was introduced to journalism when she worked for the student newspaper and television station at Illinois State University. (Source: wftv.com)