In an inspirational speech, WHYY executive Sarah Glover told workshop participants that she along with every student in the room were standing on the shoulders of Acel Moore, a former Inquirer reporter and Pulitzer-Prize winner.
Glover, vice president of News and Civic Dialogue at the PBS member station, was the keynote speaker at the annual awards luncheon of the Acel Moore High School Journalism Workshop. The program, now in its 39th year and founded by Moore, teaches Philadelphia-area students the fundamentals of print, photo and digital journalism.
The workshop was part of Moore’s lifelong commitment to provide a path for multicultural high school students seeking careers in journalism.
Workshop participants and their guests listened intently as Glover recounted how Moore and a group of black journalists – mainly from Philadelphia — started a national conversation in the early 1970s on how marginalized and communities of color were being covered in the news media.
Those early discussions led to the founding of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) in 1975. Glover, often referred to as an NABJ Baby, was nurtured by many of the founders, and, in 2019, wrapped up a historic tenure as the first two-term president of the organization.
Glover, a Syracuse University graduate, joined the Inquirer as a staff photographer in 1999 and later moved on to the Philadelphia Daily News, where she worked from 2008-2012.
“I continue to be amazed at the brilliance, curiosity and drive of our students,” said program director Brittany May. “The future of journalism is in safe hands with any Acel Moore program alum.”
May along with Inquirer managing editor Charlotte Sutton welcomed 12 participants from city, charter, and suburban schools at the Loews Hotel Philadelphia.
Three students – Tanisha Agrawal, Shenaire Chandler, and Avani Shah-Lipman – were awarded $1,000 college scholarships for exemplary work during the four-week program.
