Society connects recent Morgan State University grads to New York Times

The New York Times reached out to the Ida B. Wells Society in need of help with a project tracking coronavirus cases on college campuses. The Society connected the Times with Morgan State University, an HBCU in Maryland, which identified two recent graduates for the project: Cierra Queen and Jaylynn Moffat-Mowatt.

Queen graduated from MSU in December 2019. Though she had been applying for jobs, the onset of the COVID pandemic a few months after graduation made it harder to find work in journalism. She began working with the Times’ coronavirus tracker as a freelancer and was soon brought on as a news assistant.

“I am a part of the data research group within the graphics department. My team collects the information that makes up the visuals and statistics, to be paired with our editor’s written work. I track coronavirus cases and deaths, wherever there are clusters of positives, but my main work has been on the college tracker,” says Queen. “This job is helping me to meet my goal of being a journalist by inspiring me and reassuring me that it is possible. Working at a publication as notable and respected as the New York Times demands me to show up every day as my best self. Producing work that is less than exceptional would be unacceptable. Being fulfilled by the work I am doing reaffirms that I have chosen the right field. It has been an exciting and fueling start to my career in journalism.”