On the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, 18 student reporters from Ithaca College made the journey to the nation’s capital, cameras in hand, to witness and capture the momentous occasion.

 

James Rada, associate professor of journalism, coordinated two trips with the students. The first included 13 students who traveled to D.C. on August 24 to cover the Jobs, Justice, and Freedom rally. These students worked in collaboration with NBC Weekend Nightly News with Lester Holt.

 

Nearly all of the footage the students shot was used in the broadcast, and additional material not shown during the broadcast was used for web content on NBCNews.com.

 

The second group made the trek to Washington days later for the actual commemoration of the March on Washington. The students worked with PBS Newshour Online shooting interviews, live tweeting, and editing web content for the Student Voices section of the website. The students had the opportunity to hear President Barack Obama and Bernice King, Martin Luther King’s youngest daughter, speak live at the event.

 

Mia O’Brien ’15 had the opportunity to interview a woman whose father had helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference along with Martin Luther King Jr.

 

“We discovered the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth’s daughter in the crowd,” said O’Brien. “I’ll never forget kneeling next to her and her telling me how her sister used to watch Martin Luther King Jr.’s kids and how she used to hang out at the King family house.”