Hill to present Black History Month lecture
<p>In recognition of Black History Month Professor Retha Hill will be conducting a lunch-time lecture titled 'The Media Portrayal of African Americans from MLK to Obama."</p><separator></separator><p>Her lecture will take place at noon, Feb. 10 at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in The First Amendment Forum at the Downtown Phoenix campus of Arizona State University.</p><separator></separator><p>Hill joined the Cronkite faculty in the summer of 2007 after nearly eight years at BET, where she was vice president for content for BET Interactive, the online unit of Black Entertainment Television and the most visited site specializing in African-American content on the Internet. In that senior role, she was in charge of content strategy and convergence with the television network.</p><separator></separator><p>Before joining BET, Hill was executive producer for special projects at washingtonpost.com, developing new products for The Washington Post’s Web site. She joined The Post’s early online operations in 1995 as the editor for local news, arts and entertainment.</p><separator></separator><p>Hill is the recipient of the New Media Catalyst Award, given by the National Association of Minority Media Executives. She also has been president of the Washington Association of Black Journalists and a fellow at the McCormick Tribune Management program and the Al Fitzpatrick Leadership Development Institute. An adjunct professor at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism, Hill has been a frequent guest speaker at Harvard University’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism, the Poynter Institute, the Online News Association, the American Press Institute, the Freedom Forum and the National Press Club.</p><separator></separator><p>Hill is currently the director of the New Media Innovation Lab for the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. At the New Media Innovation Lab, Hill works with students from multiple disciplines, including journalism, to research and develop new media products for media companies.</p>