By Justin Paprocki, Assistant Director of Student Niner Media Advising and Support

Photos by Jacob Pentecost, Student Niner Media Intern

The Niner Times’ coverage of the Feb. 1 active shooter false alarm on campus was showcased during the inaugural Media Literacy Matters conference at the Atkins Library March 21. 

Editor-in-Chief Sunnya Hadavi, Outreach Coordinator Bryson Foster, Copy Editor AJ Siegel and Assistant Copy Editor Clare Grealey spoke about their approach to breaking news coverage, editorial writing and investigative coverage in light of the incident where police were called on campus in response to an active shooter report that turned out to be false. Niner Times won several awards at a recent College Media Association convention for their social media coverage of the incident and their Feb. 6 edition of the newspaper that went in-depth into the university’s response. The editors spoke of the importance of verifying information in breaking news situations before spreading it on social media, and the steps they took to document the quality of the lockdown kits on campus. “We’re not afraid to highlight the issues we face on campus,” Hadavi said. “But we’re going to do it in a way where we’re producing ethical, unbiased content.”

The conference brought together students, professors and media members to discuss the importance of digital literacy. UNC Charlotte’s Critical Media Literacy Collaborative, Atkins Library and Niner Times co-sponsored the event. Charlotte alum and former Niner Times arts & entertainment editor Ryan Pitkin served as the keynote speaker. After graduating, he went on to work at Creative Loafing Charlotte. The publication folded in 2018 and shortly after, Pitkin co-founded alternative newspaper Queen City Nerve. He credits his time at UNC Charlotte as helping ferment his interest in journalism, especially the hands-on experience he received while writing for Niner Times. “Niner Times was the most valuable part of my education at UNC Charlotte,” he said.