HU J-School to Provide National Coverage of '08 Election

Hampton, VA - Two students in the Hampton University Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications will work with Emmy award-winning news show “Dan Rather Reports” on Nov. 4 to provide national broadcast coverage of local election happenings. In addition, disciplines within the Scripps Howard School will converge that night to report on the 2008 Presidential Election, offering students the experience of working in a full operating newsroom.

On Nov. 4, Michele Byrd and Leon Hendrix, III, both broadcast journalism majors, will file a three-minute news report illustrating Election Day happenings throughout the city of Hampton to air in high definition on “Dan Rather Reports” at 8 p.m. on HDNet. By visiting local polling stations and interviewing area voters, the students' video will serve as the eyes and ears of Hampton, Va., on Election Day. HU is one of a small handful of universities from across the country to participate in this opportunity. Eight swing states (Ohio, Virginia, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Colorado and Florida) as well as the candidates‚ home states will be represented. Assistant Professors W. Chris Leonard and Reggie Mitchell are serving as advisors for the students.

In addition, at 6 p.m., HU radio station WHOV 88.1 FM will convert to a complete election news coverage format. Student anchors will host a live radio broadcast complete with election news, results and analysis. Guest interviews with local media persons and U.S. Senate candidate Jim Gilmore will be included.

At 7 p.m., the School’s broadcast studio will be transformed into a live television newsroom with broadcast students producing live ten-minute television news segments to air every half-hour on campus. The news segments will feature guest interviews, election updates, and live and prepackaged stories covering issues as absentee voting, the Palin Effect and healthcare.

“This is our first time doing this,” said Van Dora Williams, assistant professor in the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications. “They are trying to cover every angle of the election and we [the faculty] are trying to guide them. We’re going to make this a work environment.”

Print journalism students are also working on their election coverage. Pre-election stories covering topics such as student voting registration and African-American Republicans can be found at http://enewsu.wordpress.com and www.iccjournal.biz.

“This is a truly converged news operation,” said Assistant Professor Wayne Dawkins. “We are going to be fully integrated. We will all be working for each other.”