N.C. A&T Awarded Newsroom Innovation Grant from Center for Journalism and Democracy

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Oct. 16, 2024) – North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University has been selected as one of 10 historically Black colleges and university (HBCU) newsrooms to receive a grant from the Center for Journalism & Democracy at Howard University.

This grant, part of the Newsroom Innovation Challenge, totals nearly $200,000 and will be shared among the selected HBCUs, including N.C. A&T’s Department of Journalism and Mass Communication (JOMC).

The Newsroom Innovation Challenge, created by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, seeks to give underrepresented HBCU students access to the same advanced technology and resources that students at predominantly white institutions have.

The A&T Register and Aggie News in the JOMC department will directly benefit from this grant, receiving nearly $20,000 to enhance their operations over the next five years. The funding will help upgrade technology, streamline operations, boost audience engagement and support key positions like executive producers, reporters and anchors, providing students with valuable hands-on experience.

Other HBCU newsrooms receiving funding are housed at Howard University, Morgan State University, the University of the District of Columbia, Morehouse College, Florida A&M University, North Carolina Central University, Savannah State University, and Texas Southern University.

“We are excited that this grant will offer more JOMC students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in a real news environment while receiving a stipend,” said Sheila M. Whitley, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences interim dean.

The announcement of the Newsroom Innovation Challenge awards closely follows the Knight Science Journalism Program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) launch of its HBCU Science Journalism Fellowship. This fellowship is designed to equip HBCU students with training, mentorship, and early-career support for reporting on crucial topics related to science, health and the environment. Two students from A&T's JOMC Department – Christen Davis, an Honors College student, and Steven Matthews – have been selected to participate in this inaugural cohort.

“This support better prepares our graduates for careers in the news industry, strengthening our program’s role as the top producer of Black journalists in the nation,” said Whitley.

For more information, on the Newsroom Innovation Challenge and the Center for Journalism & Democracy, visit https://cfjd.howard.edu/.