Howard University’s Center for Journalism & Democracy is launching the second year of its visiting professor program with award-winning journalist Sean K. Campbell joining the faculty of the Cathy Hughes School of Communications. 

The Visiting Professorship is a centerpiece of the Center’s efforts to strengthen historically informed, investigative reporting at this nation’s historically Black colleges. This flagship program draws some of the nation’s most prominent investigative journalists into the classroom and matches similar programs at Ivy League schools in terms of pay, resources and benefits. The visiting professorship program strengthens faculty expertise in investigative journalism at HBCUs, giving students access to essential investigative tools. Launched last year, it also provides prominent journalists a platform to share their expertise on campus while reinforcing Howard’s reputation as the leading HBCU for undergraduate journalism.

Campbell’s impactful investigative reporting has exposed racism and discrimination within Doctors Without Borders, uncovered nursing home deaths and tracked gun trafficking in Mexico. His work has prompted changes at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and helped shape the national news cycle. He also wrote the lead feature for New York Magazine’s National Magazine Award-winning issue, “Ten Years Since Trayvon.”

 “Learning to find and evaluate data can lead to evidence of injustices, neglect and corruption — stories that need to be told,” Campbell says. 

“I want to help journalism students discover they don’t need to be intimidated by data,” Campbell said. “Learning to find and evaluate data can lead to evidence of injustices, neglect and corruption — stories that need to be told. It’s incredibly gratifying to be part of their journey as they learn a new skill.”

Among his many honors, Campbell has received the Les Payne Award for Coverage on Communities of Color and the Sidney Award. Most recently, the National Association of Black Journalists named his feature on the killing of Tyre Nichols and policing in Memphis a finalist for the 2025 Salute to Excellence Awards.

Campbell earned a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, specializing in data. He also has served as an adjunct professor at Columbia, teaching reporting, writing, data and investigative journalism.

This fall at Howard, Campbell will teach Data-Driven Stories as well as co-teach Truth Be Told alongside master instructor Erika Blount. In that course, students learn advanced journalism techniques and provide fact-checking on news affecting the Black community via TruthBeTold.news, an online platform hosted by the School of Communications. In the spring, Campbell will also teach the data journalism course at both Howard and Morgan State University.

This academic year also marks the second for the Center’s hybrid investigative journalism course taught across nine HBCU campuses. Center for Journalism & Democracy founder and Howard Knight Chair in Race and Journalism Nikole Hannah-Jones teaches the course in person at Howard and virtually across the consortium, with each school holding its own in-person lab.

“Central to the center’s mission is impacting the field as widely as possible by bolstering investigative reporting across HBCUs in defense of democracy,” Hannah-Jones said. “With our democratic norms under attack and the city outside our campus being occupied by federal law enforcement, we must train new generations of pro-democracy, investigative journalists who are able to analyze data, rigorously check disinformation that targets our communities and investigate the way power is wielded against the vulnerable.”

The HBCUs participating in the program are Howard University, Florida A&M University, Morehouse College, Morgan State University, North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina Central University, Savannah State University, Texas Southern University, and the University of the District of Columbia.

About the Center for Journalism & Democracy 

Founded in 2022 by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Center for Journalism & Democracy seeks to reshape the American media in ways that foster racial justice, hold power accountable and strengthen U.S. democracy. The Center promotes historically informed investigative reporting that exposes how power is wielded against the vulnerable. Through broad-based partnerships with universities, media organizations, thought leaders, and local communities, the Center provides opportunities for interdisciplinary training, immersive research and cross-institutional collaboration for students and faculty at HBCUs. The Center is committed to cultivating investigative journalists capable of transforming the national conversation about race, representative democracy and the redress of historical wrongs. www.cfjd.howard.edu.

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