The Neighborhood News Bureau (NNB) is a newsroom covering the historic African-American neighborhoods of St. Petersburg, Florida. Undergraduate and graduate students from the Department of Journalism and Digital Communication at the University of South Florida’s St. Petersburg campus staff the newsroom under the supervision of a faculty member.

 

NNB student-reporters plan, research, produce, edit and distribute investigative news and multimedia stories about Midtown’s residents and neighborhoods for media outlets such as: The Weekly Challenger, WUSF Public Media, Creative Loafing, The Tampa Bay Times

 

NNB students also work with local schools and educational programs, community communication research and practice, event-planning, social marketing campaigns, digital design, social media and public relations.

 

More than a newsroom, NNB builds community partnerships to improve education in journalism, multimedia production and African-American history and culture.

 

Help us save and share the stories that will help current and future generations to learn what Midtown was, is, and will be. If you have old pictures, artifacts, or stories that you would like to share, NNB will photograph, scan, record and make digital copies of your piece of history at no cost to you. You and the creator of the piece will be credited every time the image, recording or artifact is used in news stories, exhibits or any other publications and events.

 

If you have old copies of The Weekly Challenger, please check this page to help us save and complete the rich history of the local newspaper.

 

NNB invites news items, announcement of events and story tips from residents, community organizations, local businesses, and any person or organization with relevant information for and/or about the residents of Midtown and surrounding neighborhoods.

 

Take a look at some of the many projects NNB has been involved in:

• 150 Years of Black History in St. Petersburg
• The Weekly Challenger historic preservation project with the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library.
• 50 Years of The Weekly Challenger (to be launched in the fall of 2017).
• Voices of Midtown – A storytelling project showcasing the people who live, work and play in Midtown.
• Black Pioneers of the Sunshine City – Documentary film produced by David and Archie Boston.
• The Spa Beach Controversy – Documentary film produced by Vanya Tsvetkova.
• Art in the City – Film produced by Cranstan Cumberbatch and Jabaar Edmond.
• Elections coverage 2015, 2016 with Creative Loafing and The Weekly Challenger.
• Telling Tampa Bay Stories: Midtown – A story collection event with WUSF Public Media and Dr. Carter G. Woodson Museum.
• Journeys in Journalism – NNB helps teachers in local schools to provide media training to K-12 students at Melrose Elementary, John Hopkins Middle, and Lakewood High schools.
• Academy Prep Media Club – NNB co-teaches the class in partnership with WEDU PBS.
• Academy Prep Community Cares activity – Recurrent health, science and environment reporting program at Academy Prep.
• Mt. Zion Progressive Missionary Baptist Church’s Young Anchors For Christ (YAFC)
• Midtown by Midtown – A community forum organized by NNB to hear what the community wanted to say to local candidates.
• Pamper st. Petersburg 2016 – 35 Years of the Enoch Davis Center.
• Story Days in Tampa Bay 2016.