Recognizing the need for cultural reporting curriculum in media schools, and in an
attempt to start an ongoing dialogue about race and reporting, the West Virginia
University Reed College of Media and the West Virginia University Center for Black Culture and Research co-hosting a panel discussion and workshop on September 17
and 18.
PANEL EVENT
The panel event, “More Than a Beat: Race, Reporting and the Role Media Professionals
Play in Narrative Creation,” will be held Thursday, Sept. 17, at 7:30 p.m. in
Room G21 of Ming Hsieh Hall. The panel will focus on the importance of race and
cultural reporting in today’s media landscape, and the role media and communications
professionals play in the creation of narratives that affect these and other
societal issues. Attendees will hear firsthand accounts from the reporters who
covered this year’s biggest stories including the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri,
following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a white police officer; the
riots in Baltimore, Maryland, following the death of Freddie Gray while in police
custody; and the mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church
is Charleston, South Carolina. Panelists will provide advice to young and upcoming
media professionals interested in breaking into cultural beats along with best
practices around how to cover these and other hot-button issues.
This event is free and open to the public.
Ryan J. Reilly is The Huffington Post’s Justice Reporter, covering the Justice Department, law enforcement and legal affairs, with an emphasis on criminal justice reform and civil rights. He has been covering the intersection of politics and the law since 2009, previously reporting for Talking Points Memo and MainJustice.com before joining The Huffington Post in 2013. Most recently, Reilly has been covering the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri.
About the Panelists:
Chelsea Fuller is the senior communications associate for Youth Criminalization with the Advancement Project – one of the nation’s leading civil rights and racial justice organizations. In her role, Chelsea works to monitor and deconstruct harmful narratives pertaining to our nation’s youth of color. Her work has included providing on-the-ground communications support and training to organizations fighting against the ongoing state of police aggression and intimidation in Ferguson, Missouri. Prior to joining the Advancement Project in 2015, Fuller was an Alfred Fleishman Diversity Fellow at FleishmanHillard International Communications in Washington, D.C., where she was a member of the firm’s public affairs team. Previously, Fuller worked as a reporter and copy editor at The Dominion Post in Morgantown, West Virginia, and was editor-in-chief of The Urban Outlook, an online publication focused on news and issues affecting the nation’s underrepresented populations. Fuller is a co-founder of the WVU Association of Black Journalists and the WVU NAACP.
Wesley Lowery is a national reporter for the Washington Post, where he covers issues
of race, justice and law enforcement. He previously covered national politics
for the paper and was its lead reporter on the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri,
and of the ongoing Black Lives Matter Lowery protest movement. Prior to joining
the Post, Lowery covered breaking news and politics for the Boston Globe and
Los Angeles Times and is a former board member of the National Association of
Black Journalists. In 2014, he was named NABJ’s “Emerging Journalist of the Year.
Ryan J. Reilly is The Huffington Post’s Justice Reporter, covering the Justice Department, law enforcement and legal affairs, with an emphasis on criminal justice reform and civil rights. He has been covering the intersection of politics and the law since 2009, previously reporting for Talking Points Memo and MainJustice.com before joining The Huffington Post in 2013. Most recently, Reilly has been covering the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri.
Errin Whack is an award-winning journalist and commentator on race and politics.
Whack is best known for her work covering civil rights icons including Ambassador
Andrew Young, the Rev. Joseph Lowery, Congressman John Lewis and the heirs of
Martin Luther King, Jr. She whack recently reported on the Michael Brown case
and unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, as an on-the-ground correspondent for Fusion.
Whack’s work can be seen on NBCBLK, in POLITICO Magazine and on TIME.com. She
has also appeared as a commentator on NPR, MSNBC and the Soul of the South. Whack
is the former Vice President of Print for the National Association of Black Journalists
and frequently comments on issues of media diversity. Her reporting on the 2008
presidential election was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and she further distinguished
herself during the 2012 election for her voter-focused reporting. In 2009, the
Atlanta Press Club recognized Whack as Print Journalist of the Year, and she
was named NABJ Emerging Journalist of the Year in 2006. Prior to becoming an
independent journalist, She worked as a state government reporter for the Associated
Press and the Washington Post.
Doug Mitchell will moderate the panel. He is a consultant and project manager for
National Public Radio based in Washington, D.C. Mitchell founded and continues
to lead NPR’s program for finding and developing young people called “Next Generation
Radio.” He also has served Mitchell in three international fellowships including
the Fulbright Scholar program. Mitchell is an adjunct instructor for Georgetown
University’s Master’s of Professional Studies program in Washington, D.C., where
he takes students to New Mexico on a journalism expedition to find and tell stories
of Native American people and culture.
WORKSHOP
This two-part event will resume Friday, Sept. 18, from 9:00 a.m. to noon with a workshop to help journalism and communications students understand the roles they play in creating and perpetuating narratives. The session will include short presentations by each of the panelists followed by small-group exercises dealing with writing on the race and culture beat, unconscious bias and the significance of understanding historic and cultural context of the communities they cover. Breakfast will be provided, and participants must RSVP.
Details for both events are on the WVU Reed College of Media and the WVU Center for Black Culture and Research. Join the conversation on Twitter by following the hashtag #raceandreporting.
Read the official release at WVU Today.