HBCU Journalism Program Trying To Set The Standard For Future Journalists In The industry

By: Jacob Hall, Abigail Clark

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – At the BEA Conference, a trio of faculty members from Morgan State University participated in a panel about creating a new age sports journalism program that is intertwined with research, while also bringing race to the forefront of the discussion. 

Edward G. Robinson III, the Prof. of Practice Dir. at the Center for the Study of Race and Culture in Sports at Morgan State University, said that the curriculum aims to teach students about standing out in the changing media landscape. 

“We have to be aware of the changing forms of journalism,” Robinson said. “We understand that we can’t continue the same models where traditional models of print journalism is the only model. We have to build students’ foundations the same way, but look at other burgeoning parts of the industry – multimedia platform journalists. We want multimedia experts.” 

Robinson said that when it comes to research, they want to set the standard for how race and sports are viewed together.

“We are coming from a place where we give a perspective from the African American community, so when we look at issues, we don’t want to do what everyone else is doing,” Robinson said. “We want to give you a perspective from our community where we’re doing research, where we’re invested. Our students and their parents come to us and they are looking for that experience. They know where they’re going and it’s a part of our DNA.”

Tyus Sansbury, a current senior at Virginia State University, attended the session and said that he was inspired by the fact that Morgan State has a student-run TV show and he would like to start one of his own. 

“I want to be a sports analyst or play-by-play announcer and I think it would be a good thing for us to develop one of those things because I know other people at my school that want to be the same thing that I want to be,” Sansbury said. “I’m not saying we don’t have the necessary opportunities, but creating more opportunities for people coming behind me is a great thing to do.”



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