Students in the class report on stories, produce podcasts, and are actively developing a website for their work to be archived. Photo by Freddrell Green/The Atlanta VoiceShaping the next generation of Black journalists is arguably the most arduous yet necessary task to undertake in this generation. Numerous executive orders, attacks on the free press, and the ever-growing media landscape have warranted a change in developing the next generation, and Professor Nicole Carr is implementing just that.Carr, who has been teaching her social justice journalism course since 2021, took an atypical approach this academic year, transforming her class into a newsroom. Students in the class report on stories, produce podcasts, and are actively developing a website for their work to be archived. Sophomore journalism major Elijah Qualls was able to write a story about the potential threat of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents entering Morehouse.“Very early on, it was left up to the individuals in the class to decide how we wanted the class to be structured,” Qualls said.A testament to Carr’s teachings, Qualls’ story has already seen widespread discussion in Black Enterprise and ABC News’ coverage of the topic.Throughout the reporting process, Qualls’ has come to understand the federal government’s reach on a microscopic level.“I was very rarely thinking about ‘What are the presidential implications on a community such as the West End or Fulton County?’” Qualls said. “This article shows how there was this constant battle mentally between the different people I interviewed about ‘Well, we are a private institution, but to what extent can we really carry out our views?’”Photo by Fredrell Green/The Atlanta VoiceOther students in the class like sophomore Isaiah DuBose feel a great sense of freedom in the classroom. While he has no plans of becoming a journalist, he intends to take the communication and research skills that he is learning from Carr and apply them to the legal field as an entertainment lawyer.“It’s teaching me very much how to have a voice and how to use my voice in a social justice-minded way,” DuBose said.Carr views her students as present-day historians. Rather than handing them a standardized test on material like the Associated Press stylebook, she embellishes practical experience onto her students and hopes they take moment in time deeply seriously.“I want them recording the history that is this moment,” Carr said. “I have an incredible amount of freedom in how I teach the class…and if I can help it, my students will be the narrators. They will be the writers. They will be creating the first draft of history.”The post Nicole Carr forges new generation of social justice journalists appeared first on The Atlanta Voice. ...read more read less