Imani Cheers will do anything for a story. While interning two years ago, the Maryland native took on the rare task of covering hip-hop for Newsweek. One time, she had to lug bulky camera equipment to a Manhattan studio for an interview with a Native Tongues rapper. It was anything but typical. He was late, he slammed a bottle of Patron tequila on the table, and took a hit of marijuana.

“Let me just lay down this one track before we do the interview,” he said.

And thus the interview sidestep began.

Somewhere between the music production and watching YouTube videos, Cheers found herself in a smoky club VIP room at 3 a.m. with the rapper’s entourage — tired, frustrated and with no sound bites in hand. But this didn’t stop her. A month later while covering a music festival in New York, Cheers bumped into the rapper and got that interview.

Her story, “The Audacity of Hip-Hop,” was published in the fall of 2008, and it garnered her a Salute to Excellence award from the National Association of Black Journalists. Her dogged determination was rewarded.

Cheers goes the distance, literally. She has lived on six continents, learned two languages (French and Spanish), earned three degrees — including a doctorate — and still found time to complete several internships and fellowships. Her love for journalism came from spending evenings in the darkroom with her father, who is a photojournalist. Years later it transformed into a budding multimedia career.

Cheers, 30, said she applied for the Institute because she felt she needed more experience in the field. She is hoping the Institute will help her in her next role as the director of PBS’ “News Hour Extra,” a media education initiative.

“I want to make sure every photo I take, every story I write, every video I edit, is better than the last,” she said. “It’s a self competition.”

– Kendra Desrosiers

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