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DEPARTMENTS
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Black Newspapers and Microsoft Launch Unique Lab at Howard University
(WASHINGTON)--The National Newspaper Publishers Association, a federation of more than 220 Black newspapers, Microsoft Corp. and Howard University have combined their resources to open a unique Converged Media Lab that will prepare students for an unprecedented experience in journalism.
The NNPA/Microsoft Converged Media Lab at Howard will provide students with the experience of writing for the 15 million readers of NNPA newspapers and the organization’s Web site, BlackPressUSA.com, as well as video news events for later playing in the students’ Web site BlackCollegeView.com and other broadcast outlets.
“This will revolutionize how people get their news,” says John “Jake” Oliver Jr., president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. “This is an exciting project.”
The NNPA News Service, headed by Editor-in-Chief George E. Curry, will move its offices from northwest Washington, D.C., to the NNPA/Microsoft Converged Media Lab at Howard University within the next two weeks, Oliver announced.
In addition to supplying member papers and BlackPressUSA.com with content, Curry and his staff of professionals will work with students, giving them an opportunity to write and broadcast for news outlets.
Tom Broadwater, general manager of Microsoft’s mid-Atlantic region, said: “The unlimited access to information and technology available to students taking courses in the Converged Media Lab will enable them to realize their full potential when they enter the work force.”
Microsoft provided software and more than $70,000 in cash for hardware, technical assistance and furniture to the lab. The remodeled classroom is operated as a newsroom and contains 10 workstations with state-of-the-art equipment, broadcast monitors, new printers, scanners and digital graphic equipment.
“Microsoft is proud to join the NNPA and Howard in launching this high-tech learning center and in launching the careers of many future journalists,” Broadwater said.
Jeannette Dates, dean of Howard University’s School of Communications, also expressed excitement about the Converged Media Lab.
“We know that the convergence is occurring,” she said. “To help shape change, you need to embrace it and try to understand and work with it. Having not only print and broadcast journalism but also advertising and public relations as part, an integral part, of what goes on in a truly converged atmosphere where we have students who understand that they are dependent upon each other is going to be phenomenal.”
Makebra Anderson, executive editor of BlackCollegeView.com, the student Web site, cut the ribbon in ceremonies that officially opened the Converged Media Lab.
NNPA Editor-in-Chief Curry said, “This exciting partnership merges Howard University’s journalism classrooms with the NNPA’s newsroom. “Students will come to the lab to put into practice what they’ve learned in the classroom.”
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