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Erica Anderson, B.A.J. ‘06, is covering the presidential race in the D.C. area for MTV’s Street Team ‘08.

Related Learn more about MTV's Street Team '08. View Nyokor's work. View Anderson's work. View Allen's work. Alumna, broadcast pioneer Schultz dies (Jan. 12) Friday concert to benefit Whitney King fund (Dec. 15) Journalism Hall of Fame to induct six members (Dec. 4)

Politicos and pundits across the country were glued to their favorite media outlets Tuesday night, learning the results of more than 20 presidential primaries.

But three women affiliated with Indiana University’s School of Journalism will do more than just watch the political process this spring. They are members of MTV’s Street Team ‘08, citizen journalists charged with covering the upcoming elections from a youthful perspective as part of MTV’s Emmy-winning Choose or Lose campaign.

Sia Nyorkor (B.A.J. ’00), Erica Anderson (B.A.J. ’06) and IUPUI junior Whitney Allen are among the 51 journalists representing each state and Washington, D.C. Each member is armed with a variety of mobile reporting devices, including laptops, video camera and cell phones. They compile their multimedia reports with Adobe Premier Creative Suite 3 editing equipment and submit weekly multimedia reports that are distributed to Think.mtv.com and the Associated Press Online Video Network, among other media outlets. Their reports can also be accessed via MTV Mobile.

Indianapolis native Nyorkor, 29, covers youth voting in New Jersey, where she has lived for eight years. She also works full-time as an associate producer at  New Jersey Public Television and Radio. Her work in public television and radio has garnered a New York Emmy and a CINE award.

Nyorkor learned about the citizen journalist opportunity for MTV in an e-mail from the National Association of Black Journalists.

“I wondered if my public television background made me overqualified and boring,” Nyorkor joked in an e-mail interview. “Thankfully, I’m still young enough at heart and stay active in youth issues, so I think that gave me an edge over my competition.”

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Along with working full-time in public radio, Sia Nyorkor is covering youth voting in New Jersey.

Feb. 5, dubbed Super Tuesday because 20 states hold primaries on that day, she reported from Camden and Princeton, N.J. She also covered a recent MTV debate between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul. (View her reporting here.)

As a member of the Street Team ’08, Nyorkor has found that sometimes, she’s not taken seriously when she introduces herself as a citizen journalist for MTV. She then has to rattle off her public television and radio experience to get respect, she said.

“Citizen journalists are needed to cover those stories that traditional media outlets might not necessarily cover. We need them and they need us. There is room for both,” Nyorkor wrote. “What if I was just a gal with an opinion who likes to blog? I think we have to be careful to not put people in boxes, because you never know what you’ll do one day or where you’ll end up.”

Anderson serves as the citizen journalist in Washington, D.C. Originally from Valparaiso, Ind., Anderson, 23, also studied political science at IU. Anderson found out about the Choose or Lose opportunity when her sorority sister e-mailed her about it.

Anderson’s main areas of political concern include the war in Iraq and voting rights for the more than 600,000 people in Washington, D.C., who lack representation in Congress.

Overall, she’s impressed with the editorial and creative control MTV grants her work.

“I think the program’s premise is smart because we won’t be confined by the bottom line of a company, and because of that, I believe I will be more able to tell raw and untold stories,” Anderson said via e-mail.

Both alumnae lament that there simply are not enough hours in a day, and said it’s been tricky balancing their work lives and their citizen journalist projects for MTV. They also recognize that the technology involved with journalism is evolving at a rapid pace.

“When I came to IUB’s campus in 1996, we were still figuring out e-mail and how to navigate the Internet,” Nyorkor said.

“I’m enjoying the challenge of learning to write, edit and produce video pieces,” Anderson said. “It’s the future of our industry, so despite the challenges and frustrations, I know it’s something I need to do to stay ahead of the curve.”

In keeping with staying ahead of the technological curve, Anderson has three Web sites that feature her political reporting, Think.mtv.com/EricaAmerica , Erica-america.com and Youtube.com/user/EricaAmerica2008.

Nyorkor is in the process of applying to graduate school. Anderson, on the other hand, said experience as a citizen journalist for MTV is her graduate education.

An undergraduate journalism student also joins Street Teamers Anderson and Nyorkor as a citizen journalist for MTV.

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IUPUI juinorWhitney Allen will cover the Indiana May 6 primary for the MTV Street Team 08.

IUPUI junior Whitney Allen, 22, of Plainfield, covers her home state of Indiana. When she’s not busy as a student and citizen journalist, Allen is the creative director of The Daily Sun newspaper, serving Boone County.

Most recently, Allen shot and produced a video that teaches people how to register to vote. (View her video here.)

Allen spent her Super Tuesday watching television news coverage both at the office and at home. Given that Hoosiers did not vote in the Super Tuesday, Allen joked that she’d only continue watching the primary totals so far into the night.

“I’m OK with waking up in the morning and finding out what happened,” Allen said Tuesday evening during a phone interview.

But Allen will take on a more active role when she covers Indiana’s primary election May 6.

MTV’s Street Team ’08 is funded by a $700,000 Knight News Challenge grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which annually awards $5 million for digital media projects that promote informing and inspiring communities.