The journalism major will participate in a 10-week investigative reporting assignment at Arizona State University this summer, examining hate crimes, hate groups and their targets and victims in the United States.
Emmanuel Morgan, an Elon University junior and managing editor of Elon News Network, has been named a 2018 Carnegie-Knight News21 Fellow. Morgan joins top journalism students from 19 universities across the United States, as well as Canada and Ireland, who will investigate hate crimes, hate groups and their targets and victims as part of the News21 national multimedia reporting initiative.
Headquartered at Arizona State University’s Cronkite School, News21, one of the most prestigious student journalism internships in the country, was established by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to provide a platform for college students to produce in-depth multimedia projects on a national scale.
As part of the paid summer fellowship, the Elon junior will travel to Phoenix for a 10-week investigative reporting assignment at the Cronkite School’s digital media complex. Morgan is one of approximately 30 students selected to participate in the annual program, which regularly attracts the nation's top student journalists. Among the universities with student representatives are Arizona State University, Indiana University, Louisiana State University, Syracuse University, University of Oklahoma, and the University of Texas at Austin.
Past News21 investigations have focused on food safety, marijuana use and U.S. gun rights and legislation. Bryan Anderson ’18 participated in the 2017 project and examined major issues surrounding water pollution.
While the summer program is still a few months off, the 2018 project begins in January. This year’s cohort will participate in a spring seminar, taught in person and via video conference by Leonard Downie Jr., the former executive editor of The Washington Post, and News21 Executive Editor Jacquee Petchel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.
As a young, black man, who has written about race-related topics previously, Morgan said he feels he can add a valuable component to the News21 newsroom.
“I have a feeling they will look to me for ideas since I’ve covered similar topics,” the journalism major said. “I’ll be able to bring experience and perspective that maybe some other students might not have. I want to use my experience in the best way possible to cover the topic the best way we can. This topic has grown so much recently following the presidential election and what happened in Charlottesville. I want to use what I’ve seen covering protests and the election … and bring that into my reporting.”
Morgan expressed appreciation for his News21 selection, noting the many opportunities he’s had available to him while studying at Elon.
“The university has put a lot of trust in me, so I want to make sure I make everyone proud of the work I do this summer,” he said.
Morgan also hopes to pay forward the lessons he learns during the News21 fellowship.
“I’m looking forward to getting to know the other students as people, and learn how they tell stories and what their reporting process is,” he said. “Then I plan on bringing that insight back here to campus and ENN.”