Tag: journalism

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LANGSTON UNIVERSITY ENCOURAGES STUDENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN NBCU NEXT LEVEL SUMMIT

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by Ellie Melero, Media Relations Specialist

LANGSTON, Okla. – Langston University encourages any high school or college students interested in journalism or media to attend the NBCU Academy Next Level Summit for free on Oct. 19.

“Next Level Summit: Know Your Audience” is a free virtual learning opportunity which is open to the public, and Langston would like to encourage anyone with an interest in a career in media to attend. The summit will discuss ways for journalists, marketing professionals, public relations specialists and other media industry members to identify and connect with an audience while providing attendees with an opportunity to connect with top industry professionals.

The summit will be hosted by the NBCU Academy, a free online education program for developing skills and advancing careers in journalism, media and technology from Comcast NBCUniversal and NBCU News Group. Langston University is an academic partner of the NBCU Academy.

Langston’s academic partnership with the NBCU Academy is part of its broader efforts to improve and enrich its broadcast journalism program. These efforts began in earnest with the donation of the new Langston OKC campus from Griffin Media.
The new campus, once the KWTV News 9 building, will soon be the new home of the broadcast journalism program. The donation included a full-service news station which will give Langston students a better understanding of what it’s like to work in a professional broadcast newsroom.

Not long after announcing the donation from Griffin Media, Langston announced its new partnership with NBCU Academy. Langston is one of 45 schools who are academic partners with NBCU Academy, and it’s the only university in Oklahoma with this partnership. In addition to the academic partnership, Langston received a $250,000 grant from NBCU Academy.

The NBCU Academy academic partnership offers several virtual and in-person educational and mentoring opportunities to Langston journalism students, including events like the Next Level Summit.

You can register for the Next Level Summit: Know Your Audience at nbcuacademy.com/events/.

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LANGSTON UNIVERSITY ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH NBCU ACADEMY

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By Jet Turner, Langston University Office of Public Relations

LANGSTON, Okla. – Langston University is proud to announce its new partnership with NBCU Academy. Since its inception in 2021, NBCU Academy partners have received funding, resources, training and development – in addition to access to the News Group’s world-class journalists. Langston University is the first institution within the state of Oklahoma to partner with NBCU Academy.

“We are excited to join the NBCU Academy,” said Dr. Ruth Ray Jackson, Vice President of Academic Affairs. “The access to resources accompanying this opportunity will be transformative in preparing our students. The curriculum support and professional development will enhance our talented faculty’s ability to develop a diverse pool of media professionals committed to solutions journalism.”

This partnership comes on the heels of Langston University’s announcement of its new home of journalism in Oklahoma City thanks to Griffin Media’s donation of its KWTV News 9 building, including nearly all the building’s contents and equipment, to the University.

“Through this partnership we will be able to provide scholarships to current and future broadcast journalism students,” said Dr. Peterson, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. “With this partnership, our new building and equipment, Langston University broadcast journalism is poised to eventually lead the nation in producing highly trained and qualified underrepresented professionals in all areas of broadcast television journalism.”

Langston University joins NBCU Academy’s 15 academic partner expansion, bringing the total number of partners to 45. The 15 new partners include:

  • UC Berkeley M.E.T. in Berkeley, CA
  • Columbia College Chicago in Chicago, IL
  • Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in Cloquet, MN
  • Helena College – University of Montana in Helena, MT
  • Langston University in Langston, OK
  • Metropolitan State University of Denver in Denver, CO
  • Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham OR
  • Nevada State College in Henderson, NV
  • Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN
  • The Ohio State University, College of Engineering and School of Communication in Columbus, OH
  • Texas Southern University, School of Communication in Houston, TX
  • United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, ND
  • University of Arizona, School of Journalism in Tucson, AZ
  • University of Central Florida, Nicholson School of Communication and Media, in Orlando, FL
  • University of Missouri School of Journalism, in Columbia, MO

“This partnership re-affirms Langston University’s commitment to changing the broadcast journalism profession by providing learning opportunities and resources not only for on-air talent, but also for behind-the-scenes talent,” President Kent J. Smith, Jr said. “This is a pivotal moment for Langston University and for the future of minorities in the broadcasting industry.”

NBCU Academy has elevated the next generation of journalists, providing students from underrepresented communities a pipeline into newsrooms across media and technology. NBCU Academy’s pioneering Embed Program creates roles for recent graduates from partner schools and institutions with diverse student populations. In two years, NBCU Academy has assigned 11 Embeds full-time, two-year job assignments across the News Group’s on-air and Digital platforms, Marketing, Global Talent Development & Inclusion, Data Sciences, and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

LANGSTON UNIVERSITY ANNOUNCES LARGEST CORPORATE GIFT IN UNIVERSITY HISTORY, NEW HOME OF JOURNALISM

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By Jet Turner, Langston University Public Relations

 

LANGSTON, Okla. – Langston University announced at its 17th Annual President’s Student Scholarship Gala that Griffin Media has made the largest corporate donation in university history, gifting the university its KWTV News 9 building located at 7401 N. Kelley Ave. Langston University takes possession of the building in January 2023.

President and CEO of Griffin Media David Griffin said the company was working to bring new, advanced technology and sets to the newscast. Installing new equipment in their current building would tie them to the location for the next 15 years. Griffin Media had another goal in mind, that is to plant its flag in downtown Oklahoma City.

This left Griffin with a dilemma: What would the company do with its existing home of more than seventy years?

“If we abandon this building there is going to be a hole in this community, and we just did not want to leave this community alone,” Griffin said. “So, we went on a search to see how we could be a part of something bigger than ourselves. And then it just dawned on me, Langston has a journalism program.”

The gift totals over $10 million, and includes the building, the surrounding land, all the existing equipment used for the News 9 newscast, every table and chair, the computers, the fiberoptic cabling and more. The site will also be home to the Center for Media and Community Advancement at Langston University funded in part with a grant from the Inasmuch Foundation.

Langston University President Kent J. Smith, Jr. said this gift will not only impact our journalism program, but it will also impact the entire university community.

“There is an entire business behind news production. From computer technology to marketing and sales, our students will have the benefit of learning here. Now we can think of Oklahoma City and our Oklahoma City campus in an entirely different realm that we could not imagine before,” Smith said.

This gift will revolutionize how Oklahoma’s only HBCU produces new journalists and will impact every aspect of the profession.

Griffin Media has committed to a long-term unprecedented partnership with Langston University. News 9’s on-air and behind-the-scenes talent will teach classes, mentor students and provide opportunities for LU students to learn from them on state-of-the-art equipment.

“If you’re looking for something to believe in that will fundamentally change not only Langston University but journalism as a whole there is no doubt in my mind that this is it,” Smith said. “If you cannot get excited about that I do not know what gets you excited.”