UNC journalism school announces new affiliation with Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting
The UNC School of Media and Journalism on Thursday announced a new affiliation with the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, an organization dedicated to increasing and retaining reporters and editors of color in the field and to educating news organizations and journalists on how the inclusion of diverse voices can raise the caliber, impact and visibility of investigative journalism as a means of promoting transparency and good government.
Posted — Updated“Diversity, equity and inclusion in journalism are essential to a healthy democracy and a relevant industry. We’re proud to support an initiative of this caliber to help make newsrooms more reflective of the communities which they report on,” MJ-school Dean and John Thomas Kerr Distinguished Professor Susan King said in a statement.
The society, to be housed in the MJ-school’s Reese News Lab, was conceived by four black journalists in response to what they recognized as a dearth of journalists of color doing investigative reporting.
In February 2016, the founders convened in Memphis, Tenn., and laid out their vision for the society, which is named for Ida B. Wells (1862–1931), a pioneering black investigative journalist who began her career in Memphis before her press was burned and she was driven out of town after publishing an anti-lynching exposé.
“Across the media landscape, there were not a lot of black, Asian, Latinx or Native journalists doing investigative reporting, largely, we thought, because people in those organizations don’t see these folks as the types to do investigative reporting,” remembered Ron Nixon, a co-founder. "So those journalists are not given opportunities to do so.”
“We wanted to do something to change that,” Nixon continued. “To train and prepare a pipeline of people to do investigative journalism.”
The Ida B. Wells Society today is spearheaded by three of the original founders, who continue to steer the vision, content and future of the MJ-school-affiliated organization.
Training and preparing investigative journalists
The Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting offers investigative journalism training workshops throughout the United States and is developing a yearlong fellowship program based in New York City. Society workshops cover the use of advanced technology, interviewing techniques and the latest data-gathering and fact-checking resources, and build on story pitching, project management and narrative storytelling skills.
From July 22–Aug. 2, 2019, the society partnered with ProPublica for the fourth annual Data Institute, a free 12-day hands-on interactive workshop on using data, design and code for journalism. Participants worked on an interactive data journalism project — with real data — from beginning to end. Other recent training sessions include a Friday, July 26, workshop at Lenfest Institute in Philadelphia and a series of workshops at the National Association of Black Journalists’ annual conference in Miami from Aug. 7–11, 2019.
King noted that the society’s mission dovetails nicely with the MJ-school’s mission.
“Reese News Lab is an innovative setting for journalism that encourages students to explore design thinking and hone data storytelling skills, making it a natural home for the Ida B. Wells Society,” King said in a statement. “Together, we will prepare a generation of innovative, data-savvy and ethical investigative journalists for the diverse newsrooms that are essential to a thriving democracy.”
Sanders added, “We’re ecstatic to be at a university that understands and supports our mission. Having a partner like the MJ-school is going to mean a lot, not only to the society, but to all the journalists who we are involved with in the years to come.”
“I’m very proud that we’ve moved to the MJ-school,” said Hannah-Jones. “It’s such a place of journalistic excellence. It means so much to me. And I love that we’re moving to the South. Having a presence there — where so many black journalists are and the people that we write about live — is critical.”
Nixon noted, “Carolina brings us the place where we can grow the organization. We can bring people in and create a working relationship so that it’s not just a place where we’re housed. Carolina is a place that is home, a partnership that we both benefit from.”
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