WASHINGTON, D.C. June 20, 2008— NABJ has chosen the 2008 class of aspiring journalists from across the country to participate in the UNITY ’08 Converged Student Projects, a media training project for college students. 

More than 90 students from the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada, including this group of 26 students, will participate in week-long projects at the UNITY ’08 Convention in Chicago, July 23-27, 2008.  These aspiring journalists will work side-by-side with professionals and mentors to produce solid and innovative journalism across several media platforms in a more integrated “convergence” newsroom.  

The students will be representing the four national journalism associations that will be present at the convention: National Association of Black Journalists, Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the Native American Journalists Association.

The 26 NABJ students will be assigned to six areas including television, print, web, photography, video and radio and will produce an interactive website, daily newscasts, Web casts, newspapers and daily radio newscasts.  Specifically, they will also be doing pod casting, slide shows, video commentary and blogging.

“This is an excellent educational opportunity for our future black journalists to get the necessary training for the skills needed in today’s technologically advanced and changing environment,” comments NABJ President, Barbara Ciara.  “Not only will they be working alongside their peers, mentors and other professionals, but it will provide them with a unique experience of a more integrated newsroom that is taking place across the country.”

The Web will be the focus of constant news, activity and information for the project, which will morph into a single newsroom where journalists will get front-end training on the skills needed to create and distribute news and information in today’s changing environment.   Those who attend the convention, and those who are not in Chicago, will receive news alerts, images and other information to their cell phones or hand held computer devices. 

“I am so excited that once again a remarkable group of my fellow students will be able to learn from industry veterans what it means to be good journalists,” said NABJ Student Representative Christopher Nelson.

Below is the list of the students who were selected for this program:

PRINT AREA
Maya Carpenter, University of Florida
Zettler Clay, Georgia State University
Danielle Hester, DePaul University
Angel Jennings, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Wesley Lowery, Ohio University
Corrine Lyons, Wayne State University
Dion Rabouin, Ithaca College
Kyla Smith, Wayne State University
Nicquel Terry, Michigan State University

RADIO AREA
Elizabeth Anderson, American University
Maryleah Mwende, Hahsey University of Washington

TELEVISION AREA
Fannette Davis, California State University, Dominguez Hills
Lateshia Dowell, Wayne State University
Alexis Garner, Boston University
Francesca Hoskins, Southern University
Fendy Lamy, St. Johns University
Debbie Origho, Howard University
Adrian Pittman, Jackson State University
Courtney Reid, California State University, Fullerton

WEB AREA
Michelle Anderson, Spellman College
Gerrick Lewis, Ohio State University
Dioni Wise, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

PHOTO AREA
L. Kasimu, Harris University of Mississippi
Jarrad Henderson, Arizona State University
Eric Shelton, Southern Mississippi University

VIDEO AREA
Annita Bonner, Jackson State University

The 2008 class is the latest to benefit from the work of NABJ’s Student Education Enrichment and Development (SEED) Committee, which each year, helps support student members with internships and scholarships and the chance to cover the annual convention through student media projects.