Our Student Mentoring Gets National Recognition

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A letter from our Civil Wrongs coordinator

April 5, 2024

Dear Reader,

Our inaugural Civil Wrongs student exhibit “Look Back to Live Ahead” has received national recognition!

Professor Taylor Ackerman and I won third place in the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication's (AEJMC) Best Practices in Teaching Competition.

We'll share our process with other journalism educators this summer at the AEJMC conference in Philadelphia.

Laura Kebede-Twumasi

This year's competition sought to amplify ways educators are helping students develop their voice to participate in our democracy. As you may remember, our "Look Back to Live Ahead" partnership between the Institute for Public Service Reporting and the University of Memphis’ Department of Journalism and Strategic Media drew more than 100 community members last year to learn about the Memphis Massacre of 1866 and its modern-day implications.

My social justice writing and reporting class handled the research, and Taylor’s public relations class handled all the event logistics.

Each one of these 26 students were thorough, professional, and really took ownership of telling this tragic story well. I was so amazed by their critical thinking, creativity, and commitment to curiosity throughout the whole process.

Here’s what the AEJMC competition judges had to say:

Taylor Ackerman

"What an incredible project and learning experience for the students in these courses! I think this idea could be replicated at many different universities. I'd strongly recommend publishing this idea in a journal like Journalism and Mass Communication Educator.

Laura and her students

"This exercise relates well to our call. It is well explained and offers evidence of impact."

This is all in service of The Institute’s mission to train the next generation of journalists, to look beyond traditional models, and find ways to get vital information to the public.

We are elated that those leading the academic standard for excellence in journalism education recognized this too.

Laura Kebede-Twumasi

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Who We Are

We believe in the Fourth Estate's vital role in democracy.

We value the journalist's duty to impartially "explore and explain” complex issues that impact metropolitan Memphis and its citizens.

We believe quality local journalism leads to an informed electorate and is among the highest forms of public service.

We are duty bound to prepare the next generation of journalists in support of this essential mission.

The Institute is led by director Marc Perrusquia, who worked nearly 30 years as an investigative reporter at The Commercial Appeal. He’s the author of the 2018 book “A Spy In Canaan,’’ which exposed civil rights photographer Ernest Withers’ secret life as an FBI informant and inspired the 10-part podcast “Ernie’s Secret” and the documentary film “The Picture Taker,’’ to be released on PBS in January.

The Institute’s associate director, David Waters, worked more than 30 years at The Commercial Appeal and another four at The Washington Post. He is revered as Memphis’s best news writer and is beloved for his work exploring faith, child poverty and education

Laura Kebede-Twumasi is a Report for America corps member. She recently hosted and wrote WKNO public television’s special “History, Justice and the Journalists” on unresolved civil rights crimes in the Memphis area. She previously covered education inequities for Chalkbeat Tennessee and local government and religion for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

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