Reporter Pitches
Story Pitch 1: How Howard Students Are Giving Back to the Victims of Hurricane Harvey
Title: Howard Students Fight Hurricane Harvey
Research: Hurricane Harvey has left the city of Houston in a huge bind. Thousands were left without homes, cars, and clothes. Many of the victims are struggling to see how they will bounce back after the hurricane. With Howard University, having a large population of students from not only Texas but Houston in particular. I want to shed light on how students are getting involved to help the city of Houston get back on their feet. I would love to talk with students that are setting up events or fundraisers that will help benefit the city of Houston.
For example, I found that the Texas Club is hosting a drive in which they have set up bins in the dorms all around campus and they are collecting food and clothing items that will later be mailed to shelters in Houston. I have also seen that students publicly speak on the governments lack of involvement via social media accounts. I plan to talk with the students that are organizing the drive and how they plan to ship these items smoothly. The drive is until the 15th, so I can showcase the prep for the drive and the responses they have received once everything has shipped.
Potential Interviews: Furthermore, I would love to talk with students about other ideas that they have plans to help the city of Houston get back on their feet. Some interviews would be members of the Texas Club, Alpha Kappa Psi, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, incorporated since these are all the groups that are putting on the drive. I would love to go around and do Man On the Street interviews and see if other students have found creative ways to possibly give back to the community. Howard University is constantly setting the bar, and I would love to truly show how the students of this university are being selfless and giving back to the victims.
Story Pitch 2: White House Involvement with Hurricane Harvey Victims
Title: Is the White House Helping Hurricane Harvey?
Research: In the news, there has been a lot of negative feedback on the White House involvement with the City of Houston after the Hurricane. Many have said that the President has appeared as whether nonchalant about this natural disaster, and that even when he did go out of the city he did not stop and visit the victims. Instead, he went and spoke in a town that wasn’t as severely affected. I will provide statistics on what the current president has done since the hurricane and what he hasn’t done since the hurricane. I will also shed light on what the President did when he went to visit the city of Houston, and the promises that he made to the city.
In terms of interviews, I would love to shed light on how the media outlets are portraying the white house involvement. I would love to talk with other news reporters or media outlets on their views of how the current White House administration is helping out amidst the storm. I will ask questions on if they believe the President is doing all that he can or if they feel like he should do more to help the city of Houston. I will also ask if they felt like more was done for Hurricane Katrina 12 years ago. Along with getting interviews with people that are members of the news outlets, I will also do MOS interviews with people around the DC area and ask if they believe the current White House administration is helping those in Houston.
Story Pitch 3: How kids are responding to the natural disaster in the DMV?
Title/Slug: Kids Awareness After Hurricane Harvey
Research: Although parents may try to hide the negative parts of the world to their children, often times kids are a lot smarter than we think. I would love to talk with students in the DC area on their reaction to the natural disaster. I would love to see If they are scared for the people in Houston, do they think that this storm can hit DC, how do they want to help other kids that are located in Houston, are their teachers talking about this storm in class? I think it’s very important to see what kids know and their ideas on how they can possibly get involved in helping make sure people are safe even if they aren’t necessarily from the same area.
Therefore, some possible interviews will be with children that are in school in the DMV. I will look into schools that have students 5th grade and under and see what they are possibly doing to help the victims. Along with talking with students I will also talk with the educators, and ask how they go about sharing the sad news like this amongst their children. Furthermore, I would love to get some of their stories on how their students chose to either get involved in helping the victims. I will provide information for children around the country that are getting involved in helping the victims, but of course tie it back to the students that are based locally and want to help those victims.
Nayo Campbell 