Social Science Research Council

Jitin Hingorani: As a child, Jitin Hingorani sat with his grandfather every night to watch the Indian news. That is when he knew he wanted to work in television. "It was the most quality time I spent with my grandfather. I hope he's in heaven looking down at how fast I've accomplished my goals," he said. Jitin grew up in India and moved to the United States in the eighth grade. Jitin graduated as valedictorian of his high school senior class in Houston. He completed degrees in English and News and Public Affairs, while minoring in Speech Communication at the University of Texas; he graduated in 1999.

Jitin joined News 8 Austin for its launch as an assignment editor. He was promoted to associate producer, produced the mid-day and morning shows and became a videojournalist at the beginning of 2001. In August 2003, Jitin was promoted to senior reporter. He also fills in on the anchor desk. Jitin is a general assignment reporter and covers the entertainment and religion beats. His weekly Center Stage segment airs on Fridays and previews local, performing arts productions . Jitin has covered the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Conference from Dallas and the Columbia space shuttle explosion from Houston. He has also done in-depth series on the "cost of litter," "the state of the arts" and "elderly abuse" in Austin. He is currently working on a six-month series titled "Voters' Voices," which encourages Austinites to head to the polls come November.

In 2004, the Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities awarded Jitin the Barbara Jordan Media Award for Best TV News Feature on the Open Door Preschool. Jitin has been involved in competitive public speaking for 12 years. As a former captain of the UT speech team, he's spent the last four years coaching the National Championship team in poetry and persuasive speaking. His ultimate goal is to work as an international correspondent for CNN or BBC.