Multicultural Journalism Program affected by storm Campers tell all in Aiesha Desarme
“Hold on to me as tight as you’ve ever held me,” were the careful few words Meredith Cummings uttered to her daughter, Isabel, as a deadly tornado tore through their home. After the tornado had passed over them, they graciously left the front door, their closet fortress and the shoes Cummings had placed beside her door to make their way to the University of Alabama’s campus. Cummings and her daughter were victims of the symphony of tornadoes that tore through the state of Alabama on April 27, 2011. The lethal twister destroyed their home, their neighborhood and took the lives of two students who resided within the neighborhood. The site that stood before them was complete and utter ruin. “It looked like a bomb went off,” Cummings said. “It was so surreal.” Having no home to rest in, Cummings and her daughter sought refuge in Reese Phifer Hall, where Cummings would soon be leading the Multicultural Journalism Program in a few weeks’ time. The students attending that year were supposed to travel to the Gulf of Mexico to cover the BP oil spill; however, plans were soon changed to cover the devastation that hit the Tuscaloosa community hard instead. “I remember telling the campers that we would be staying in Tuscaloosa and help all the damaged communities that were affected by the storm,” Cummings said. “ I steeled myself for their reaction, like tomatoes being thrown at me. “Instead, the students were so mature. They said things like, ‘Yeah, of course we should stay here!’ and, ‘Great, we’re really excited.’ Their reaction blew me away.” Their compassion was recognized within their work as they were awarded Dow Jones News Fund scholarships for their coverage on the tornado. “I was extremely proud of them,” Cummings said. “They really touched me.”
The Long Haul for The Long Weekend Jessica Harrison
For the past three days, students from across the Southeastern United States have gathered at The Long Weekend summer program, hosted by the University of Alabama, to hone their journalism skills. The three-day camp provides intensive training for middle and high school students in the areas of newspaper, multimedia journalism, broadcasting journalism, creative writing, photojournalism and yearbook publication. While the focus of The Long Weekend is to provide participants with instruction in a college setting, this summer program re-
quires funding, effort and planning to be successful. As of last year, The Long Weekend cost approximately $12,400 without the addition of salaries for counselors and workers. It would be almost impossible to create and maintain a summer program such as The Long Weekend without donations from organizations and individuals, according to Meredith Cummings, the director of the Alabama Scholastic Press Association. “We have to get donations even if they are not financial,” she said. “Since we are a nonprofit organization, we rely on donations almost entirely, so anything helps.”
Although money is important, it is just as important to be organized and able to adapt to changes in the plan. Those involved in the organization of this program, like Cummings and other camp director, Anna Waters, really had to be on their toes this year. With broken limbs, trash bag fights, fast walking students and counselors being late for kickoff, this year was – to say the least – stressful. As for organization, Cummings said, “Some of the staff may disagree, but room assignment seemed to be the most difficult job for me. It was so stressful, I even forgot my own daughter on the list.”
It is also important to plan something that will be enjoyable for everyone and remember that no part is greater than the whole. At The Long Weekend, a place that cultivates the young minds of future journalists, teachers, politicians and much more, a lot of hard work is put into the production of the program. Money is made and spent. Organizational skills are utilized and even tested. Even though everything that has to be done is difficult, the payoff is something that anyone would work this hard for: the opportunity to inspire a new generation of creativity.
dorm confessional Lina Fernandez Eric Tran Everyone involved in The Long Weekend has something in common. They all are passionate about something and want to improve their skills. We asked various campers about their experience so far, and what they hope to do with the knowledge they gain this weekend. The results clearly show the positive impact this weekend has had on the campers. See the Confessional video on The Long Weekend’s website
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Anthony Cave Benefits From Multicultural Journalism Program During MJW Aliyah Thompson Multicultural Journalism Workshop alumnus Anthony Cave has had a love for journalism ever since he joined the class in high school. Little did he know that he would not only come to love journalism, but also attend a workshop at the University of Miami and become an intern at the Miami Herald over the course of his high school career. “It was [around my] sophomore year of high school,” Cave said. “I took it as an elective and fell in love with it. I needed an elective, and it was between creative writing or journalism. … And my writing wasn’t creative.” Cave attended the 2011 MJW workshop as a rising college freshman, and although it wasn’t what he expected, he was simply excited to do journalism. “We were initially supposed to go to the Gulf of Mexico to cover the oil spill,” Cave said. “…The tornado happened in April of that year, so we ended up staying in Tuscaloosa and reporting the damage, which was very eye-opening. I’d never really covered a disaster area [before]. It’s skills I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise, compared to what I was going to cover.” After the conclusion of the workshop, he walked away with a wealth of resources – friendships that would last throughout the years, a mentor in MJW director Meredith Cummings and $1,000 toward college through the Dow Jones News Fund Scholarship.
After MJW Mayci Hartley
Anthony Cave, writer for Miami Herald and The New York Times, said he began his journalism career in high school. “Tenth grade we had to choose an elective between creative writing and journalism. My writing wasn’t very creative so I chose journalism.” Cave said that in 2011 he went to the Multicultural Journalism Program, because it was one of the only programs for rising seniors. “We were initially going to cover the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but the tornado happened in Tuscaloosa in April,” Cave said. Cave said the tornado became their “sole focus.” “We went around Tuscaloosa reporting on the aftermath. It was less than two months since the tornado… basically I learned to cover sensitive areas, as far as areas I had never really covered before. It was really worthwhile,” he said. Cave said he won a scholarship that helped with college tuition, and that MJW has helped his career. Meredith Cummings, Multicultural Journalism Workshop
Photo by: Rodnesha Mcneil Director, said she’s known Cave since he first came to MJW in 2011. “I first knew that Anthony was going places when I opened his MJW application. As a student in high school, he was a hard worker when it came to journalism, getting a story and story ideas,” Cummings said. Cummings said that Cave’s persistence, natural curiosity and ability to listen makes him a good journalist. “You have to have persistence to be a good journalist. He’s curious about the world around him and he’s a good listener,” she said. Cave said he still talks to Cummings all the time. “Whether it’s career advice or work struggles, she’s always available,” Cave said. Cave said his writing career has taken him to different publications including The Miami Harold, The New York Times, Cruise Critic and Red Book. “The New York Times was definitely my favorite,” he said. Cave said he’s interviewed celebrities such as Imagine Dragons, George Lopez, Ariana Grande, Megan Trainor, Julianne Huff, AfroJack and Pitbull.
“Pitbull is my favorite to interview. He’s from Miami, it’s something I can relate to. It took me months to set up that interview, he said. “He had a concert that year in Miami on New Year’s Eve, and Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve was live-feeding part of his concert, and he talked about that. I asked him about his new album and some of his partnerships, he had his own charter school and partial ownership of this grill in Miami called Subs Grill, and I asked him his New Year’s resolution so that was good.” Cave said another one of his favorite interviews was A.J. from The Backstreet Boys. “He was a little late to the interview so I only had 20 minutes but it was cool. I grew up listening to The Backstreet Boys so there was a lot of nostalgia there,” he said. Cave said he spent a week in Haiti and managed to get an interview with someone from the Haitian government. “I was with the translator and we didn’t have an appointment. We got the interview on the spot, which was really rare to happen because usually you have to an appointment. You can’t just walk up and expect an interview, that helped my story plenty,” Cave said.