Program Names 2010 Roving Reporter of the Year
ABC News today announced an addition to the ABC News on Campus program, now in its third year, with Howard University joining as a college bureau. The program is a partnership with top journalism schools designed to educate and mentor talented college students. In 2008 ABC News created the bureaus to help guide student journalists and provide opportunities for them to report on stories in their area. Each campus bureau is equipped with the latest digital newsgathering technology, including new DV cameras and laptop edit stations. The program also pairs student journalists with some of the network’s most seasoned producers. The students work on original stories, some of which are featured across ABC News platforms. Many of the student-generated stories can be viewed at: ABCNewsOnCampus.com.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Howard University to help shape the next generation of young journalists. These are some of the brightest and most curious students you will find anywhere,” said John Green, executive producer of Special Programming and Development at ABC News. “Howard University has a great tradition and dedication to journalism education, and we are excited to welcome its students into the ABC News on Campus program.”
This year ABC News on Campus will also continue its collaboration with the University of Hong Kong (HKU). Because of a grant secured by the Journalism and Media Studies Centre, at HKU, students will have the opportunity to develop projects for ABC News. The partnership with the HKU marks the first collaboration between ABC News on Campus and a journalism school outside the United States. Under the leadership of Jim Laurie, an ABC News veteran who now teaches at the university, the students pitch stories directly to ABC News in New York, with the goal of completing six packages throughout the course of the semester for use on one or more of ABC News’ platforms.
Roving Reporter of the Year
In addition to working with its partner bureaus, ABC News on Campus also invited student journalists at accredited colleges and universities to contribute and be mentored as part of the program’s Roving Reporter initiative. For the 2010 school year, ABC News selected Alex Pena, a student at Florida Gulf Coast University, as the “Roving Reporter of the Year.” Pena submitted a first-hand report on the Mexican Drug Wars and how citizens were using Twitter to stay informed when traditional media outlets were stifled by escalating violence in the region. That reporting caught the attention of ABC News on Campus producers and earned him the “Roving Reporter” status.
The 2010/2011 student bureau chiefs and faculty liaisons will visit ABC News headquarters for on-site mentoring at the end of September. Each year student participants are selected by ABC News and the respective colleges through a series of interviews. Each ABC News on Campus bureau has a team of official ABC News college journalists, including a student bureau chief. These positions are supervised by a participating university-appointed faculty member and by ABC News.