UDC was among several HBCUs at the INDABA Student Press Leadership Conference and Democracy Summit in October by The Center for Journalism and Democracy at Howard University. UDC’s Trilogy journalists including Managing Editor Bashir Mangum, Assistant Editor Kyla Bigby, reporter and photographer Derrick Deal, and reporter Shannel Laws, showcased the legacy digital publication to an audience of national journalists, communications professionals, and journalism and digital media faculty from around the country. With UDC, participating HBCUs included Florida A&M University (FAMU), North Carolina Central University, Howard University, Morgan State University, Texas Southern University, Morehouse, North Carolina AT&T, and Savannah State University.
Democracy Summit speakers and panelists spoke about the current state of journalism and the ongoing attacks on democracy and the First Amendment. Among the speakers were journalists Georgia Forte, Jelani Cobb, Claire Mitchell, Hannah Allam, and Joe Davidson. Other speakers included Janai Nelson, Jodie Ginsberg, Bill Adair, and Marianela Balbi.
“Sharing our collective work of stories on Trilogy with a group of nationally renowned journalists was inspiring. It was also an exciting opportunity to be among fellow HBCU journalists from across the country,” said Bashir Mangum, Trilogy Managing Editor.
Pre-eminent investigative journalist Ron Nixon, formerly with AP and the New York Times, spoke one-on-one with Mangum about the upcoming Mid-Term Elections and voter turnout. “Electoral politics is not just going to vote and getting somebody in office,” said Nixon. “If you’ve got potholes in your street, that’s political. If your trash doesn’t get picked up, that’s political, if your kids aren’t getting the best education, all of those things are a result of voting.”
Nikole Hannah-Jones is the founder of The Center for Journalism and Democracy. Jones is a New York Times reporter, Knight Chair in Race and Journalism at Howard University, and Pulitzer Prize recipient for The 1619 Project.
When asked by Trilogy assistant editor Kyla Bigby about the relationship between journalists and democracy, Jones stated that “as journalists, we have been taught to be neutral and objective, and journalists think that they can’t take a stand on anything, especially democracy. But we as journalists have a mandate to protect democracy.”
