MS NOW To Host White House Correspondents’ Event For J-School Students

MS NOW has scheduled its first White House Correspondents’ Dinner event under new parent Versant: A brunch focused on the next generation of journalists.

The Future Correspondents’ Brunch will be held on April 24, a day ahead of the annual dinner, and will connect journalism students from Washington, D.C. universities to MS NOW’s reporters and newsroom leadership. The event will feature a panel conversation, moderated by Jen Psaki and featuring MS NOW journalists, followed by small-group mentor discussions.

Among those participating senior Washington reporter Eugene Daniels, Washington reporter Jackie Alemany, White House reporter Akayla Gardner, senior White House reporter Vaughn Hillyard and congressional reporter Mychael Schnell. D.C. bureau chief Sudeep Reddy, who will kick off the event, said that journalists will offer “valuable real-world advice for students who are navigating a rapidly evolving media landscape.”

Students participating are from Howard University, Georgetown University, The George Washington University and American University.

MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler said in a statement that their objective “is to engage directly with the programs shaping tomorrow’s reporters to share real-world experiences and advice from those who are reporting from all over Washington every day. Hosting this type of mentorship session and panel discussion creates a meaningful space for students to learn from professionals in the field, ask questions, and build relationships for the future.”

MS NOW has built up its own newsroom, as the network was among those that split from Comcast into Versant. Among the recent hires is Peter Alexander, who announced his departure from NBC News last month and will join MS NOW as anchor of its 11 a.m. ET news program, among other duties.

Rebecca Sinderbrand, director of the journalism program at Georgetown University, said, “The majority of our students begin our program having never entered a professional newsroom or previously spoken with a full-time correspondent – our priority as educators is to pull back the curtain so the world of newsgathering feels accessible, and conveyed in full. The next generation of journalists needs to hear from the humans making difficult decisions right now on the toughest beats.”