ABC News Starts Bureau at Howard

Howard University will be the sixth school to participate in ABC News on Campus.

The program, started in 2008, creates bureaus at top journalism schools around the country and was constructed to educate and mentor promising journalism students.

Through the program, students are given the opportunity to work with experienced ABC News producers and report on local stories, some of which may be featured across ABC News platforms.

Five journalism students currently staff the bureau: Senior Candace Smith serves as bureau chief; juniors Seth Lemon and Sandile Ashford, and seniors Lynee Coan and Kyla Grant are the representatives for the university.

"I feel so humbled to have this opportunity to work with ABC and such a wonderful group of people," said Smith. "Being the first black bureau chief is a mantle not to be taken lightly and I just hope that I, along with my colleagues, can leave a legacy for future generations of journalism students here at Howard."

Smith expressed her drive for the program as not only being for self-benefit, but for the benefit of the Howard community as a whole.

"We'll put out excellent material, not just because that's the standard we've set for ourselves, but also because our performance this year determines whether or not future Bison will have the opportunity we had," said Smith.

Smith admitted that Howard received this opportunity because it was taken away from another school, but "that won't happen to us," she said.

The appointed faculty advisor for the bureau is journalism professor Valerie Cummings. Cummings' role in the program is to supervise the students, listen to story pitches and help make story selections in bi-weekly board meetings.

Cummings said that the primary goal of the program is to "nurture the development of digital journalists." She elaborated on this statement by explaining that the program was strictly designed for outstanding digital journalists, crafted to hone their talents and give them a leg up on the competition prior to entering the work force.

"These students went through a pretty competitive selection process," said Cummings. Part of the process included a writing test, and a submission of a portfolio. The field was then narrowed down to eight students who were interviewed by ABC executives, with five students selected for the opportunity.

When asked how long the program would on campus, Cummings replied that the hope is for it to be ongoing.

"The initial agreement is for one year, but hopefully we can keep the program running for as long as ABC is willing," said Cummings. "We want to give more journalism students at Howard this same great opportunity."

Cummings said that any student could be a contributing reporter for the program by simply pitching a story idea to either her or Smith for review.

John Green, ABC News Executive Producer of Special Programming and Development, supervises and manages the ABC News on Campus program.

"ABC News recruiters have had a long-standing relationship with Howard. Many Howard graduates already work here, but we wanted to formalize the relationship even further by offering the students a chance to work with ABC News before they graduate," said Green.

"The dean and faculty in Howard's journalism department were enthusiastic about our opening an ABC News on Campus Bureau at Howard, and when we were on campus talking to the students, we knew we had made the right decision," said Green. "What an amazing group of young journalists."

Green said that they hoped to give the students involved first-hand knowledge of what it's like to work in a network news environment and give them opportunities to develop their stories and have them showcased.

The network's ultimate goal is to mold students into skilled journalists so that they will be prepared to work for major news affiliates.

"Hopefully, many of the students who participate in the program will eventually come work for ABC News after they graduate," Green voiced. 

When asked how it felt to head the only Historically Black College and University (HBCU) of the program, Smith said while they recognize that they are the first HBCU participants, the students are not going to let that define them.

"We don't want them to say ‘They're producing some great stuff for an HBCU' – we want them to say that we're the best bureau they've ever had. Excellence is colorblind," said Smith.

Howard is joining Syracuse University, Arizona State University, the University of Florida, the University of Nebraska, and the University of Texas as members of program.