Charlotte, N.C. — Florida A&M University (FAMU) students Lenneia Batiste and Courtney Wallace were set to provide daily news updates for FAMU student media outlets during the Democratic National Convention Sept. 4-6 in Charlotte, N.C.
“We are delighted that our students and the CBS Harold Dow Visiting Professor Benjamin Davis will be on the convention floor to capture this historic convention,” said FAMU School of Journalism and Graphic Communications Dean Ann Wead Kimbrough, who noted that due to logistical issues, “we were not able to get students to the Republican National Convention.”
Wallace, a journalism student from Galesburg, Ill., said, “I’m ecstatic. I never thought I would have this honor. I’m very blessed. We’ll be producing from the field and on the convention floor of the DNC. We’ll be sending packages, articles and pictures back to Professor Horton and the News 20 at Five team, Famuan editors and radio spots.”
Batiste, a former FAMU TV 20 news anchor from Atlanta who is expected to earn her master’s degree in journalism in December, said the multimedia plan “is to really inform our viewers and help them become better informed voters. We’ll highlight some of the key platforms. For example, we’re planning to do stories on immigration, voter ID laws, same sex marriage and the Medicare debate.”
In 2011, Batiste won a Florida AP award for best light feature for her package titled Diamond. She called the political convention “a highlight of my career. This means a lot to me. I’ve never had this opportunity. To be among politicians and to see the president speak will be something I’ll treasure for my entire career.”
Davis said, “This is a great opportunity for FAMU to send our students into real world journalism. They’ll learn more in three days than they can six months on the job.”
The students’ work will be available online at famutvnews.com and thefamuanonline.com.
TUNE IN
Viewers were encouraged to tune in to the live newscast at 5 p.m. through Thursday on FAMU TV 20 via Comcast. FAMU TV 20 reaches more than 80,000 households via Comcast.
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