The FAMU family is accustomed to seeing its student organizations dazzle millions on the national stage. During Tuesday night’s election results party in the Quad, as news reports flashed “Barack Obama Wins,” the world-famous Marching 100 treated nearly 3,000 attendees to a medley of songs that included “Never Would Have Made It” and “The Negro National Anthem.”
However, all around the band that electrified the audiences that tuned into the Grammys and Super Bowl, another group of rising stars was hard at work. They were FAMU’s journalism students.
Tuesday debuted a new era for FAMU’s School of Journalism and Graphic Communication. Through a partnership with cable’s TV One, the university’s journalists-in-training delivered live updates on a network that reaches more than 45.8 million viewers.
As impeccably-dressed students such as Brent Hatchett and Alicia Mitchell presented breaking news from FAMU’s campus, a group of Chicago-based panelists that included public intellectual Michael Eric Dyson all nodded in admiration.
Close by, in the J-School building, students scurried busily in TV-20 and 90.5FM’s studios to edit and air stories for their local and national FAMCAST audiences. FAMUan staffers also spent the night typing feverishly on their computers, placing national feeds and campus interviews into a special post-election edition of the FAMUan newspaper.
Beneath the Quad’s two huge monitors, one could hear thunderous applause each time Rattler students saw their peers appear on the screen. The quality of the J-School’s work was also seen in the big smiles from the numerous journalism professors who also put in a long night to support their students. Dean James Hawkins and Professors Dorothy Bland, Kenneth Jones, Keith Miles, William Jiles, and Andrew Skerritt all stayed up to help their mentees through the weary, but rewarding process.
This experience is invaluable for the young Rattlers who will soon launch job searches in the intensively competitive news industry. Thanks to Tuesday’s efforts, they’ll have resume tapes and portfolios showcasing their poised, meticulous coverage of one of the most important events in modern history.
In the not so distant future, these young men and women will become the next Ed Bradley’s, Gwen Ifill’s, and Leonard Pitts’.
However, all around the band that electrified the audiences that tuned into the Grammys and Super Bowl, another group of rising stars was hard at work. They were FAMU’s journalism students.
Tuesday debuted a new era for FAMU’s School of Journalism and Graphic Communication. Through a partnership with cable’s TV One, the university’s journalists-in-training delivered live updates on a network that reaches more than 45.8 million viewers.
As impeccably-dressed students such as Brent Hatchett and Alicia Mitchell presented breaking news from FAMU’s campus, a group of Chicago-based panelists that included public intellectual Michael Eric Dyson all nodded in admiration.
Close by, in the J-School building, students scurried busily in TV-20 and 90.5FM’s studios to edit and air stories for their local and national FAMCAST audiences. FAMUan staffers also spent the night typing feverishly on their computers, placing national feeds and campus interviews into a special post-election edition of the FAMUan newspaper.
Beneath the Quad’s two huge monitors, one could hear thunderous applause each time Rattler students saw their peers appear on the screen. The quality of the J-School’s work was also seen in the big smiles from the numerous journalism professors who also put in a long night to support their students. Dean James Hawkins and Professors Dorothy Bland, Kenneth Jones, Keith Miles, William Jiles, and Andrew Skerritt all stayed up to help their mentees through the weary, but rewarding process.
This experience is invaluable for the young Rattlers who will soon launch job searches in the intensively competitive news industry. Thanks to Tuesday’s efforts, they’ll have resume tapes and portfolios showcasing their poised, meticulous coverage of one of the most important events in modern history.
In the not so distant future, these young men and women will become the next Ed Bradley’s, Gwen Ifill’s, and Leonard Pitts’.
Two words for FAMU’s J-School students and faculty: well done!
Congrats again to Dean Hawkins and everyone involved in the School of Journalism. I've heard so many amazing things about them this past year. Covering the election on a national scale by appearing on TV One during the biggest election in our history is HUGE. Couple that with the awards the newspaper won and having that student journalist of the year earlier this year just goes to show you that the J School is quickly becoming one of the premier schools on FAMU's campus.
ReplyDeleteThis makes me proud to be J-School alum.
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