A First Amendment Hero Took Her Paper to Freedom

Talia Buford

The leadership that Talia Buford displayed when she took the Hampton Script to freedom did not develop overnight. She began showing signs of her trademark determination as a Hampton University freshman. She said she did not believe that internships were just for upperclassmen.

Buford was editor-in-chief of the Hampton student newspaper last fall when the administration confiscated the Oct. 22 issue. Then a junior, she led a successful fight to give the newspaper the ability to cover issues without censorship. It was the same spirit she showed when she secured her internship as a freshman.

�I went to a meeting I wasn�t supposed to and I talked to people I wasn�t supposed to,� Buford said. �When I was a freshman, people said, �You�re not going to get one as a freshman.� That wasn�t a good enough reason for me. If I hadn�t tried, things would be different.�

Without that internship at the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., Buford might not have been in position to win the first-ever NABJ Student Journalist of the Year award.

Dr. Christopher Campbell, director of Hampton�s Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications, remembers when he first heard the news that Buford would be honored.

�I wasn�t surprised. I think she is very deserving,� Campbell said. �What she went through is something most student journalists don�t experience. What she has done is great for Hampton and the journalism school. I�m very proud of her.�

He said that Buford�s appreciation of the First Amendment and �her understanding of it is beyond her years.�

Because of her actions during the crisis, Buford won a Special Recognition award from the Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals, and the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award in print journalism from the Playboy Foundation.

The NABJ Student Journalist of the Year award will be presented at this year�s Unity: Journalists of Color conference, to be held Aug. 4-8 in Washington.

�It is a double-edged sword,� Buford said. �I�m grateful they chose me, but I know I wasn�t the only person at the Script. Even if everybody can�t be on that stage, for that moment I�m not Talia Buford, I represent everybody. I am honored, floored and humbled by it.�

Almost 6,500 copies of the student newspaper were confiscated by acting president Dr. JoAnn Haysbert after the editors did not put Haysbert�s memo, regarding the condition of the school cafeteria, on the front page as Haysbert requested. The papers eventually went to press on Oct. 25, with a large disclaimer stating that the placement of her memo went against the staff�s journalistic principles.

Local & World section editor Bridget Jeffreys, copy editor Erin Hill and Buford, among others, passed out the papers during the homecoming game that Saturday.

The struggle for First Amendment freedoms became a team effort for members of The Script. Copy editor Erin Walsh wrote the statement for the news conference announcing that the newspaper had been confiscated. Hill typed the disclaimer that would appear on the front page of the second version of the newspaper. Kara Edgerson wrote the article about the controversy.

�We didn�t participate in homecoming weekend or enjoy ourselves as students,� said Fia Curley, the associate editor. �We all missed out on sleep. It was kind of upsetting at the time. We all had to stick together. We all represented our school and our beliefs.�

�It all started with Daarel not placing the memo on the front page,� said Janell Hazelwood, then the Lifestyles editor, referring to Daarel Burnette II, the campus editor. �Then Fia, Talia and Daarel all came to an agreement. It wasn�t her alone saying �I�m the leader.��

Hazelwood said that the entire staff was there to support Buford. She describes the Script editor as gracious, patient and strong.

�It was a collective effort,� Hazelwood said. �Later on, Talia dealt with a lot of the negotiations [and] dealings with the press and then she became the figure in the forefront.�

Buford said The Script operates like a family and that whenever there was a new development, a staff meeting was held to discuss it. �Script Family Fun Night� took place at Hill�s apartment to keep the mood light among the staff members.

Buford also said that sometimes, after long hours in the office, she would simply order a pizza for the staff.

�I think we were a lot closer than past years,� Buford said. �I can remember being in the newsroom at 1 or 2 in the morning on a Saturday night. Even though our eyes were falling out of our heads, we still managed to laugh and joke around. I don�t separate them as the staff, they are all my friends.�

The Script became an online publication in February and the editors introduced a print edition redesign in the first issue of 2004. The paper added a columnist and conducted workshops on reporting, copy editing and management. The Script provided scholarship opportunities, invited guest speakers and held staff dinners to foster communication.

�The fact that the paper has a strong Web presence is important, so I think this is a major accomplishment,� Campbell said.

Buford said that there was a new appreciation for the school paper.

�The students at Hampton did a great job supporting us,� she said. �It boiled down to students vs. administration. I love Hampton just for that. It proved we can come together for one common purpose. It really touches my heart.�

A task force that included Burnette, Buford and the faculty advisers for the Script was created to examine the roles of the people who had the power to influence what went on at the Script. Campbell said the main goal of the task force was to create guidelines for The Script to �perform functionally on campus.�

The task force made recommendations that were adopted by the university. The �Hampton Script Policy and Procedures Handbook� was eventually rewritten.

�The document created was a good working model for private universities that run into this,� said Campbell. �Hampton is not the only one.�

He praised Buford for her work on the task force and her ability to get along with people.

According to Hazelwood, Buford seems quiet but is really a fun person to be around. Her friend can be outgoing at times, Hazelwood said.

�She is very caring, she cares about people�s lives,� Hazelwood said. �One day I came into the office and I was sick. She said �Oh, I have some tea in the office, do you want some honey, too?��

Hazelwood said she will never forget the time the two of them went to a poetry event and Talia �actually got up and did some poetry.�

Buford remembered how excited she was to find out during her freshman year that there was an association for black journalists. That same association, NABJ, will present her with the Student Journalist of the Year Award and many staff members of The Script will be present. The mission of NABJ is very important to Buford.

�It is a support group for people of color,� Buford said. �It is a place where we can go and someone understands what it is like to be the only brown or black face. When you go on an internship and you are the only one, you know there are more out there. NABJ reminds you that much is expected of you.�

Buford will be the vice president of print for the Hampton chapter of NABJ next year. She said that even at age 12 her goals were to be a reporter, change the world and write articles that would affect people. When Buford was in 10th grade, she wrote for the �Word Up� teen section of The Flint Journal, the daily newspaper in her hometown of Flint, Mich. She continued to write for it until she graduated from high school in 2001. In her biography, written during an internship with the Scripps Howard Foundation Wire the summer of her sophomore year, she said she always has been and always will be a journalist.

Buford is interning at the Press & Sun-Bulletin in Binghamton, N.Y.

�I think it�s good she is getting this award,� said Hazelwood. �She is very passionate about journalism. I think this is just the beginning.�

Titus Ledbetter III , a student at Hampton University, is a staff writer with The Hampton Script.

Posted June 10, 2004