By Morgan State University 

Seven students in Morgan’s Department of Strategic Communication (SCOM) will play in the big leagues this academic semester as multimedia communicators with The Baltimore AFRO-American newspaper. 

“AFRO” publisher Frances Murphy Draper announced the partnership this week.

“The greatest legacy we can leave our nation is to ensure that young people get an opportunity to be exposed to high-quality journalism and be engaged in their communities,” said Draper. “One of the best ways to do that is to mentor emerging communications students so we can be assured the history of African-Americans in our community is acknowledged and preserved for another generation.”

MSU SCOM majors: Danielle Smith, left, Michelle Saunders, front left, next to Candyce Burke, Jasmine Johnson and Stephanie Jackson, with Michael Gainey, back left, and Malik Holmes, strike a pose on the Communications Bridge preparing for their special multimedia assignment with the AFRO.

Under the arrangement, SCOM students will write stories, post to social media, and provide video collateral for The AFRO as part of their strategic communication writing and storytelling class.

We know for certain in order for students to be successful in the workforce, they must  be able to tell stories across multiple digital platforms whether they are journalists, production staff, or are in public relations, said DeWayne Wickham, Dean of Morgan’s School of Global Journalism & Communication. “Our graduates are landing significant jobs and internships because of this strategy. We are grateful to The AFRO for providing our students with this amazing opportunity to continue to build their skills.”

The students: Candyce Burke, Michael Gainey, Malik Holmes, Stephanie Jackson, Jasmine Johnson, Michelle Saunders and Danielle Smith are juniors rising to seniors. 

“I can’t believe we have the chance to do this,” said junior SCOM major Jasmine Johnson. “It is really important to get professional work in our portfolios before leaving Morgan. This project with The AFRO is going to help us get great jobs when we graduate.”

David Marshall, Professor and Chair of SCOM is teaching the class. “I am so excited about this partnership, and to see what they will produce. Our SCOM majors are already actively working with real clients on real world storytelling projects in Baltimore,” said Marshall. “They are getting great feedback from clients about their work. We hope they will continue to do a great job and deliver great results for The AFRO too.”