Morehouse College announced its partnership with the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting- the Society. This partnership focuses on increasing and retaining journalists and editors of color in investigative reporting. Formerly at The University of North Caroline at Chapel Hill, The Society will be based on Morehouse’s campus with co-founder Nikole Hannah-Jones and staff present to celebrate the occasion.
Nikole Hannah-Jones, one of the founders of The Society, remarked at the event, “I am very excited to announce that Morehouse College will be the new home of the Ida B. Wells Society. This partnership helps our young organization settle more deeply into our mission, which is to increase the number of investigative reporters of color. Being located on the campus of a historically Black college located in Atlanta in proximity to other HBCUs and coming to Morehouse just as it gets its journalism major off the ground provides a tremendous opportunity for us to increase our impact on the field and society.”
The partnership will educate Morehouse students about advanced technology, open records laws, advanced interviewing techniques, fact-checking, backgrounding, data reporting, finding government data, story pitching, organizing projects, and following paper trails. The partnership will also teach students how to write compelling investigative narratives and provide guest lectures, career development opportunities, educational programs, and general support.
Ron Thomas, the chair of the Morehouse Journalism in Sports, Culture, and Social Justice Department, remarked, “The Society is a natural fit for the emphasis that Morehouse College and our journalism program have placed on social justice. So often, keen investigative skills are needed to unearth the truth when social justice issues are explored.”
Founded in 2007 with a generous grant from alumnus Spike Lee ’79 and the late pioneering Black sports columnist Ralph Wiley, the Morehouse Journalism and Sports program became an official degree-granting major in July 2021, offering a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism in Sports, Culture and Social Justice.