TSU Students Graduate with Honors from CJD Writing Boot Camp
Written by Erin Slaughter on August 14, 2024
By: KTSU2 Reporter Erin Slaughter
During a three-day writing boot camp organized by the Center for Journalism and Democracy (CJD), Texas Southern University (TSU) students seized the opportunity to refine their skills in preparation for the upcoming investigative reporting course.
The goal of the writing boot camp was to enhance students’ skills and ensure their success in the upcoming course, the first of its kind at TSU.
“The boot camp significantly deepened my understanding of writing in investigative reporting. I’m both intrigued and confident. The boot camp has equipped me to use investigative reporting, and I now have a solid grasp of investigative reporting,” Jaylen Cooper, a TSU broadcast major, said.
Jaylen Cooper
The boot camp, which included over 30 participants from different HBCUs, motivated Jada Terry to collaborate with her student colleagues, and she said the diverse perspectives reinvigorated her commitment to the course.
“To be able to network with students from other HBCUs who are doing what my peers and I are doing is very encouraging, and it’s amazing to see the rise in Black journalists. Two heads are better than one, and in this case, we get multiple heads in this collaborative course,” Terry said.
The CJD has hosted multiple workshops to further its mission of educating the next generation of investigative reporters, and Amber Land, a previous participant, said she left this course with the same feeling of readiness and eagerness as she had in the others.
Amber Land
“I enjoyed learning from several award-winning journalists with years of experience. I definitely took plenty of notes and feel well-prepared for what’s to come in the upcoming fall course,” she said.
Alana King, another TSU broadcast major, echoed Land’s sentiments about the experienced journalists but said it was their advice that stuck with her.
“It was an interesting and different perspective to hear from Dr. Clark about how mental health can be affected not just for the person being interviewed but also for the reporter. I’m all in! I’m excited for where this class will take me,” she said.
Throughout the boot camp, the students were allowed to hone their reporting styles, receive a refresher on writing techniques, and bounce ideas off their student colleagues, which left all students feeling reenergized.
TSU Student
“Over three days, we reviewed AP styles, refined story angles, and accomplished a great deal. It was also an enriching experience to collaborate with fellow students, whose fresh ideas sparked meaningful exchanges. The CJD continues its mission to educate the next set of investigative reporters, and I always leave their sessions feeling inspired and ready to apply what I have learned,” one TSU student said.
The investigative reporting course, set to begin on August 19, will host students from various HBCUs and will be a new addition for many of the schools.
CJD Founder and award-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, along with award-winning TSU professor Serbino Sandifer-Walker, will be the instructors for the course at TSU. Other local media professionals are also set to participate.
TSU students continue to prepare for the upcoming course, and they all agreed that the writing boot camp has been instrumental in their preparation, making them eager for what’s to come in the coming weeks.
