Journalist Jennifer Donelan has been appointed as the new director of media relations for the Prince George’s County Police Department.
Journalist Jennifer Donelan
In a statement released Nov. 28, Police Chief Hank Stawinski III said that Donelan, 42, a veteran journalist with more than 19 years of experience in media, will help the department keep open communication with the county’s community. As media relations director Donelan will be responsible for managing communication between the organization and various media outlets.
“We are so proud to have Jennifer join the Prince George’s County Police Department. We know under her leadership, the Media Relations Division will continue to communicate with our community and members of the media in a transparent manner,” Stawinski said.
Donelan’s experience includes being a crime reporter for Washington area’s WJLA-TV, a nightly co-anchor and reporter for Baton Rouge, Louisiana station WAFB-TV, a lead crime reporter for Detroit’s WDIV-TV and a national correspondent for the CBS News Newspath Division.
In 2010, Donelan suffered a heart attack that occurred directly after she reported a story in Fort Mahan Park in Northeast Washington, D.C., while working for the local ABC affiliate. Recalling the experience in a YouTube video produced by MedStar Heart Institute and the Cleveland Clinic Heart and Vascular Institute, Donelan said her chest began to ache, her left arm went numb and an ambulance was immediately called.
“It’s mortality slapping you in the face at 36 years of age, when you think you have the rest of your life ahead of you,” Donelan said.
According to My Heart Sisters, Donelan was back on the job within five months of suffering the attack.
“I have a new normal now. I have to eat right; I have to see my doctor. But it’s my new life. The key words being, ‘It’s my life,’ and have given it to me,” Donelan said.
The respected reporter has received several accolades during her career, including an Emmy Award, an Edward Murrow Award, an Eboné Image Award from the Northern Virginia Chapter of 100 Black Women, the Michigan Broadcaster’s Merit Award, and an Outstanding Young Woman of the Year Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce award.
Donelan grew up in Fairfax, Va., and received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia.