As part of an ongoing effort to diversify America’s newsrooms, the University of Southern California’s (USC) Annenberg School for Journalism has worked with historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) over the years to recruit students.
However, despite finding talent, the absence of available financial aid options caused many students to seek out other institutions instead.
To mitigate student loan debt burdens, a new scholarship was established at USC Annenberg in collaboration with ViacomCBS.
“HBCU graduates are critical to advancing our country’s future, including the next generation of journalists,” said Willow Bay, dean of Annenberg at USC. “We are proud to join ViacomCBS in accelerating Black journalists’ paths to success here at USC Annenberg so they can bring their invaluable expertise and perspectives to our nation’s media organizations and truly propel representation forward.”
Beginning this fall, the ViacomCBS HBCU Diversity in Journalism—using a $1-million endowment—will cover the tuition for a select group of HBCU graduates looking to pursue a journalism master’s degree at USC Annenberg.
Currently, Black journalists represent 7.12% of the overall salaried workforce among newsrooms and only 7.7% of newsroom managers, according to a recent News Leaders Association survey.
“This new scholarship demonstrates ViacomCBS and USC Annenberg’s commitment to elevating Black excellence in journalism as well as a tremendous investment in supporting the diverse representation we all seek in the industry and what we all want in the world,” said Gayle King, co-host of CBS This Morning, during the scholarship announcement on May 13.
