South Carolina Democratic Primaries 2020
Every four years, national politicians descend on South Carolina to curry their votes. SC is important because its primaries are among the earliest in the country, and because the majority of voting Democrats here are African American. Students covered the campaigns starting six weeks before the election. Their coverage culminates with the election itself on February 29, 2020.
Each spring, students at the University of South Carolina’s journalism school spend extended time photographing stories that matter to their communities. Eye Witness is a semester-long photography project under the guidance of Associate Professor Denise McGill. The highlight is the Talmadge Moore LeGrand Photojournalism Workshop, now in its second year. The class spends 48 hours with coaches who are professional photojournalists. Their coaches go out into the neighborhoods, look over the images, whatever is necessary to build storytelling skills. The class works out of a basecamp on campus where they download images and review projects. The result is a cohesive story that is important to their state.