Getting to Know: Wilton Jackson

 

Wilton Jackson is a native of Jackson, Mississippi. He is a breaking news writer for
Sports Illustrated.

Previously, Jackson worked as a trending (news and sports) reporter for The Clarion Ledger, a Gannett-based newspaper that is part of the USA TODAY Network.

Jackson attended Jim Hill High School, where he was an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma graduate in 2011. He received his bachelor’s degree in multimedia journalism (broadcast emphasis) with a minor in Spanish from the University of Southern Mississippi in May 2015.

After undergrad, Jackson participated in The Sports Journalism Institute (SJI) and was selected to intern at ESPN. Following his internship in ESPN's digital media department, he attended Louisiana State University to pursue a master’s degree in mass communication (MMC) with emphasis news and sports reporting.

Jackson finished his MMC degree in May 2019. Prior to finishing his degree, in May 2017, Jackson participated in the COX Media Group Digital Talent Program (CMG), a highly competitive, yearlong fellowship available to recent graduates who demonstrate a commitment to a career in media and promise as a digital leader.

While working in Atlanta at WSB-TV, Jackson became a member of the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists (AABJ), where he served as the parliamentarian. He is also served as a former national board student representative for the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ).

Currently, Jackson serves on the NABJ Print Synergy Team, an advisory team of print journalists from around the country geared toward helping further the mission of the national organization, advocating on behalf of media diversity in newsrooms, expanding the Print Taskforce's digital footprint, spurring ideas on new sources of revenue through grants, sponsorships, and events and helping print journalists become job ready.

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The DMT Vision

 

The Diversity Media and Technology (DMT) High School Journalism Project serves as a minor intervention to educate young, underprivileged high school media students about mobile journalism skills and techniques, with the idea of educating and preparing them to be mobile-digital savvy journalists for potential journalism careers in the future.

 

Through the use of mobile journalism modules, students will be equipped with basic, hands-on skills to tell stories right from their fingertips.