Aiyana Ishmael, who served as a sports writer for The Reporter during the 2017-2018 academic year, has been selected to participate in The New York Times Student Journalism Institute 2021.
Participants at the institute—which started virtually the first week of March and will run through May—will report, write and edit articles under the guidance of New York Times journalists. They will also operate social media accounts, as well as shoot photos and video.
“It is a great opportunity since they are providing connections for people of color to have access to at one of the best publications,” Ishmael said. “I do a lot of magazine work so I like the idea of using my writing in a different way.”
At The Reporter, Ishmael covered softball, women’s basketball and volleyball. She transferred to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in 2018 and joined Journey—the school’s award-winning magazine—where she served as editor-in-chief between April 2019 and May 2020. She is now their digital content producer.
From May through August of 2020, Ishmael did a digital media internship at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg through The Dow Jones News Fund. From August of 2020 through January of 2021, Ishmael served as the audio producer with WriteLane, the podcast of Tampa Times Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Lane Degregory.
Ishmael, 22, also hosts her own podcast—Black Fat Fashion—where she interviews successful members of the Black, plus-size and fashion communities.
She is expected to graduate from FAMU with a bachelor’s degree in journalism this May.
