About Us

Howard University News Service

On November 17, 2001, Howard University’s Department of Journalism launched its online news and information source under the name BlackCollegeView.com, now known as the Howard University News Service. The news service is the anchor project for the department’s Converged Media Lab, created through a student, faculty and industry partnership that includes the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA).

In the C-Lab, multimedia content is created and disseminated for local, national and global audiences. Correspondents for the Howard University News Service report on education, health, business, government and politics, religion, arts and entertainment, sports and other topics. The site specializes in hyper-local coverage of the Washington, D.C., region with senior correspondents assigned to each of the District of Columbia’s eight wards.

The news service has been praised for its coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the 2008 presidential election and the 2009 inauguration. The converged media team for the election produced more than 80 print articles, hundreds of photos, a dozen blogs, and 20 video and audio packages. Reporters who returned to their hometowns to vote, including New York, Chicago, Detroit and Wilmington, added a national dimension and provided real-time coverage of President-Elect Barack Obama’s victory speech, filing via cell phones and using Twitter. In some cases, the student journalists filed ahead of national news organizations. One of the lead reporters was named Student Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ).

Converged teams have also covered the 50th anniversaries of Brown v. the Board of Education and the sit-in movement in Greensboro, N.C. "From Black Power to Black Sunday: Student Activism in the Nation’s Capital" was one of 14 student packages included in the "Eyes on the Prize" Black College New Media Project, underwritten by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

News service content has been used by the Washington Post, the Washington Examiner, CNN iReport, BlackAmericaWeb.com, Human Nature magazine, Heart & Soul magazine, Trentonian.com and many of the 200 NNPA newspapers, including the Baltimore and Washington Afro-American, the Washington Informer, the Los Angeles Sentinel and the Chicago Defender.

Through the Howard University News Service, novice and more experienced student journalists alike gain unparalleled experience in covering the U.S. Supreme Court, Congress, D.C. Council, Advisory Neighborhood Commissions as well as grassroots groups and individuals. They are able to apply traditional news values and diversity to coverage in print, audio, still photography, video and social media to distribute content quickly, accurately, fairly and ethically in English as well as other languages.

Reputable news organizations can republish content with the appropriate credit(s) for the Howard University News Service and its correspondents. We also welcome news tips, suggestions for projects and requests for coverage. Please contact us at HUNewsService@gmail.com.

Spring 2010 Reporting Staff:

Ward 1: Genet Lakew

Ward 2: Amber Smith

Ward 3: Ronesha Dennis

Ward 4: Kimberly Jacobs

Ward 5: Brittany Johnson

Ward 6: Alexa Murray

Ward 7: Royce Strahan

Ward 8: Drew Costley

Administration:

Phillip Dixon

Chairman

Department of Journalism

p_dixon@howard.edu

Yanick Rice Lamb

Associate Professor

Print/Online Journalism Sequence Coordinator

ylamb@howard.edu

Advertising Inquiries:

To advertise, please contact: Sheryl Oliver or Angela Harris.

Howard University News Service

John H. Johnson School of Communications

Converged Media Lab

525 Bryant St. N.W., C-229

Washington, DC 20059

Phone: (202) 806-4426

Fax: (202) 806-9227

HUNewsService@gmail.com

http://www.HowardUniversityNewsService.com