Jennifer C. Thomas is an associate professor of broadcast journalism in the department of Media, Journalism and Film at Howard University, her esteemed alma mater. She is a former CNN executive producer, with more than 25 years of experience as an award-winning broadcast journalist, for her coverage of events such as the September 11th Terror Attacks and Hurricane Katrina. She is also founder of MediaReady Consulting LLC, which provides coaching and consulting, event management, and Media Relations services. She earned a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

 

A dedicated and innovator educator, Jennifer was named the 2019 Scripps Howard Foundation Teacher of the Year. At Howard, she has produced live election specials for PBS affiliate WHUT TV, supervised broadcast coverage of the 2016 Democratic National Convention, and reported from the U.S. Mexico border with the U.S. Border Patrol.

 

A published author, her research interests include the dissection of current practices and pedagogies in journalism, the transition from professional to professor, and the complex facets of women, media and images. She has presented research in Namibia, Africa and Lagos, Nigeria, where she was the 2019 keynote speaker for the country’s observation of World Press Freedom Day. She was also South Africa’s featured guest during its Media Freedom Week, and has been selected to take part as a scholar in the Fulbright Specialist Program, where she plans to return to South Africa. An avid singer, she performed at the Atlanta Jazz Festival under her middle name, Camille.