2012 North Carolina Media Conference: Team MCO in Attendance

Shaw University's selected Mass Communications students attended the North Carolina Collegiate Media Association 2012, February 18, held at the Winston-Salem State University (WSSU). They left feeling not only inspired but a part of a life changing moment in time.

Winston-Salem State University was the first HBCU to host a media Conference in North Carolina. The Conference this current year had over 100 students from various colleges in the state of North Carolina in attendance. This was the largest turnout in any previous media conference held mentioned by WSSU professor Lona Cobb.

Shaw University mass communications student Nyasha Cooper was greatly impacted on the breakout session entitled "Fight the power," by professor  and chair  of Department of Mass  Communications at WSSU Phillip Jeter, which focused on student media press laws. "The conference was very inspiring and in essence made me feel passionate about the major I have chosen," said by Cooper.  Other breakout sessions were ENG: Tips and Tricks for a Better News Package, Rethinking Radio: This is not Your Father's FM Station, Yearbook and Magazine Design: The Future of Print Design, and many more.

The major event of the day was the enlightened words of keynote speaker Roxanne Jones. Jones is a founding editor of ESPN the Magazine and former vice president at ESPN, where she created award-winning programs and journalism across television, print and online media platforms. She is author of Say It Loud: The Illustrated History of the Black Athlete, published by Random House in 2010. A former editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer and New York Daily News, she is CEO of Push Marketing Group. She is a national lecturer on sports, entertainment and women's issues. Jones earned her B.A. in broadcast journalism at Penn State and M.B.A. at UCLA, taken from North Carolina College Media Association agenda. Roxanne moved the crowd with a motivating quote by Robert F. Kennedy noting that "The future is not a gift: it is an achievement," leaving the upcoming students to want to achieve anything possible.

Overall, the 2012 media conference was a success to everyone who participated. Amongst others, Shaw University Mass Comm. Students were motivated, inspired, changed to hurry back and to put into action what they learned and plan to achieve. The 2013 Media Conference will be held at North Carolina A&T University; the second HBCU to be the host.