Thursday, April 10, 2008

Florida A&M Hosts First Stop on CNN’s Black in America Tour April 8

CNN Pressroom - Black in America, CNN’s On-Air and Online Initiative, Visits Six Historically Black Colleges and Universities

CNN Worldwide’s marketing department announced the launch of a multi-city tour of six historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in conjunction with the network’s Black in America multiplatform programming initiative. Florida A&M University (FAMU) will host the first Black in America campus stop on Tuesday, April 8, on the front lawn of FAMU’s School of Journalism and Graphic Communication from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (ET).

CNN has also launched a Campus iReporter contest in association with the Black in America tour at each of the six HBCU schools. CNN, together with the National Association of Black Journalists, will choose one Campus iReporter from FAMU, whose prize will be a digital video camera. The winner from each school will also be able to submit additional footage from their Black in America campus stop to win the grand prize: a trip for two to the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans over the Fourth of July weekend.

Viewers and users are encouraged to share their firsthand accounts of the black experience through video, photo, audio or text submissions at www.iReport.com, CNN’s recently launched user-generated community Web site. Contributors to iReport.com also may gain recognition by having the material they submit to the site – once vetted and approved for use – appear on a CNN network or CNN.com.

“The response from the students and the schools has been extraordinary, and their participation is an important part of this story,” said Scot Safon, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of CNN Worldwide. “Black in America is a worldwide CNN multi-platform event about issues that directly impact the future of all Americans.”

The HBCU tour will include a trailer outfitted with a jumbo television screen, along with video kiosks, where participants can submit their video response to a programming-related question via iReport. There will be live DJs, text-message polling, a graffiti wall and electronic polling stations using questions from a CNN/Essence Magazine/Opinion Research Corporation poll. Exclusive video previews from upcoming Black in America programming will also be featured. CNN, Essence Communications and Comcast will all have representatives and giveaways on site.

CNN.com’s special section for the HBCU tour is available at www.CNN.com/blackinamerica/hbcu. It includes rules of participation for the Campus iReporter contest, and it will also feature images from each school.

Forty years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., CNN launched a sweeping on-air and digital initiative, Black in America. CNN continues its commitment to groundbreaking documentaries and reporting for Black in America, which examines in-depth the often under-reported stories of the African-American experience. This landmark program features six hours of documentaries, a weekly series of reports on CNN/U.S. and CNN International and a multimedia online effort. For more information, please visit CNN.com’s interactive special section at www.CNN.com/blackinamerica.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

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1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I observed anchor T.J. Holmes report on CNN's Black in America Tour while in North Carolina at North Carolina A&T University along with some co-workers. We were disturbed by his apparent insensitivity and detachment from the students whom he interviewed and his overall report. First, was his reaction to the young man who was behind him, amongst many other students, during the live telecast and summary of the days events with anchors in the studio. I feel that he completely over reacted as if the young man was being a nuisance. I personally would not have even acknowledged the young man as the camera was clearly focused on T.J. himself had he not taken the time to rudely dismiss the young man. In all honesty this is seen in live broadcastings amongst crowds all of the time. An example would be Good Morning America along with the latest CNN story reporting the Olympic torch run in San Fransisco where audiences are often seen waving to the camera in the background. With such a topic as this the last thing Mr. Holmes would have to worry about was anyone stealing his spotlight. Secondly, was Mr. Holmes apparent dismissal of the students' experience and views on racism because of their age or generation. I am quite sure that he did not give a statistical survey therefore it would not be safe to assume that the few students who were interviewed represent the masses of young black youth and their personal experiences with racism. Racism for them may not be a blatant denial to sit at a dining counter or enter a restaurant but could be reflected in the inability to still receive the same quality in numerous arenas as their white counterparts. I have personally witnessed and been told of stories in college towns with both an HBCU and a predominately white institution in which black students were denied entrance into a club during 'white night' or Special accommodations were taken on behalf of white students during a school event that was not considered for the black students. Such stories are all to common.I my self am under the age of 25 and have experienced clear racism. Once with a white teacher throwing away my assignments so that as the only black student in the class I would not earn an A in the course as well as in numerous stores where I have been clearly ignored by white employees being the only black woman in the store, with more than enough money to BUY what ever item I wanted and no criminal record. As long as we have environments where these young black youths are the only black student in a class or organization in this day and age and white students(& other ethnicities including blacks) who do not know nor care about the importance of Black history, racism will continue to exist and it will not discriminate by generations!! I hope that the remaining of your reports from these HBCU's is not reduced to a mere opinion that racism does not exists for black youth and college students because a few could not give personal accounts. The black community is just that, a community what affects one or a few inevitably affects the masses. Many of their stories just go untold to the media. So please do not address this topic with a preconceived notion that because you yourself may not have experienced racism that the younger generation did not. It would be presumptuous and damaging.

8:29 AM  

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