Competition is always an exciting part of journalism when it comes down to the top Historical Black College and University student newspapers in the country. February 13th-17th, the 10th Annual HBCU Conference took place in Baltimore, Maryland. The conference was hosted by the Mass Communication department of Morgan State University. The students were allowed on many occasions to get with each other and discuss different techniques and ideas for the student newspapers.
“I thought it was a wonderful opportunity to network with other universities papers across the country,” said Ashley Slayton, news editor of The Panther at Praire View A&M.
Alumni also made there appearance at the conference as they played a big role in the progress of the students work. Former The Gramblinite editor and chief, Brian Henderson, who is now a page designer for The Baltimore Sun spent many hours helping The Gramblinite raise the quality of its paper to another level.
“There was never anybody for me when I was coming up, and I just want to start a trend of giving back a little time to my former school and lead them in the right path,” Brian Henderson stated.
“The New York Times is one of the best papers in the world, and I feel that my job is to inform students on how to be the best reporters that they can be, because we only hire the best,” said Don Hecker of The New York Times.
Students had the opportunity to walk around and talk with major media companies such as The Associated Press, The Baltimore Sun, Collegiate Network, Detroit News, The Washington Post, and several other publications. Students also had the opportunity to meet one on one in an interview with these publications to gain internship opportunities.
The 11th annual HBCU Conference is expected to be held next year in North Carolina.
Last week, the The Gramblinite traveled to Oxford, Miss. to take part in the SEJC (Southeastern Journalism Conference) Students participated in several seminars ranging from newspaper, televisions and magazine.
It was held on the campus University of Mississippi. Students shuttled attendees around to different sites and seminars.
The conference also had guest speakers that talked about the state of journalism. Students also had the opportunity to network with students from different schools.
There was a on-site competition that gave students the chance to showcase their talents.
Next year the conference will be held at Belmont University in Nashville, TN.