Welcome to Lip Service: News With Attitude!

About Lip Service:  News with Attitude

Lip Service is a term dating back to the 1600s, defined as an avowal of advocacy, adherence or allegiance expressed in words, but NOT backed by deeds. In other words, talking a whole ‘lotta smack and doing nothing about it……Well, not in this century—I am turning this term around!

From the average to the edgy, Lip Service:  News with Attitude covers it all.  Based in Houston, Texas, this site is committed to delivering local and national news, celebrity highlights, feature articles taken straight from the streets, (sometimes off the beaten path) relationship articles and much more! Giving you a daily dose of news, entertainment and lifestyle tips– with an attitude, of course! 

Lip Service N.W.A. is about every aspect of your life and lifestyle, tragedies and triumphs that are happening every day.   It is not just about “who did what to whom” in Hollywood, it is about what is really going on in the world.

Lip Service N.W.A. is for the mothers and fathers trying to keep it together, the single trying to land a mate and the trapped trying to find a way out.  It is not about blowing smoke, it is about removing the clouds so you can find your way.

Simply put, information is education. When you are informed of what’s happening in the world — good or bad — you tend to make better life decisions. 

About Nakia L. Cooper

How many hats fit my head?

I am a Digital Media Producer for the Emmy and Edward R. Murrow award-winning website, KHOU.com.  What does that mean?  Well, I am responsible for writing breaking news, daily briefs and headlines, aggregating content from partners, site architecture, encoding video and whatever else comes my way in the day!  I am also constantly on the move, writing feature articles and shooting slideshows around the community.

During election season, I build the election database, which ingests and outputs election results for on-air and digital platforms, for KHOU-11.

I was most recently appointed vice president of multimedia for the Houston Association of Black Journalists (HABJ).  I was honored with the latter position in December 2011 and I am also a proud member of the National Association of Black Journalists, NABJ.org. 

I graduated Magna cum Laude from Texas Southern University with a BA in Journalism — and like Forrest just loves to run — I just love to write!

Now for the drumroll………my “baby” if you will:  I am the owner, creator, editor-in-chief, photographer and model (when I can’t afford to pay anyone else) of  Lip Service:  News with Attitude and this web/blog is second to none when it comes to letting it all hang out!

How did I get here?

Frankly put, I had a wonderful college professor and mentor, Serbino Sandifer-Walker, who kept pushing me forward even when I wanted to take a break.  At TSU, I served as president of the TSU Association of Black Journalists, executive producer for KTSU 90.9 FM student newscast and contributing reporter for the campus newspaper, The Herald, all while working as a men’s shoe salesperson at Nordstroms in the Houston Galleria. (So be careful men, I know a quality shoe when I see it!)  I landed one of my biggest interviews after selling a pair of Allen Edmonds to Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court Wallace B. Jefferson who granted me a 15-minute exclusive interview for KTSU 90.9 FM during the historic 2008 presidential election– still a shining moment in my life! 

During my senior year in college, I interned at KRIV-Fox 26 and at KHOU’s Great Day Houston, with host Deborah Duncan- -which led me to where I am today.

On the final day of my internship at Great Day, I was offered a contract position with KHOU’s web department as the weekend web producer, and was promoted to full time within my first year of employment.

How do I mix my KHOU (day job) with my web/blog (hobby)?

My day job and my hobby are worlds apart, but yet still closely related, if you know what I mean.  Mainstream media can be SO SERIOUS at times, so it feels good to have a release – with an opinion – from time to time.  Enter Lip Service:  News with Attitude!

In April 2011, I launched this site as a way to talk about topics in the non-traditional way.  I must be honest and let you know I am a “Hip-Hop baby” to my heart and there are some things that are not often covered or overlooked by traditional outlets.  Although I still deal with the tough subjects, I also get to cover the “softer” side of news, entertainment and relationship drama—often with a funny twist.    And let’s face it; it’s a hot mess out here, sometimes! 

My site, Lip Service:  News with Attitude is a separate project from KHOU.com and KHOU-TV 11 and any of my thoughts or blogs are not the views of the station.

I spend a great deal of time on the campus of TSU, mentoring and working with students in the School of Communication, and often allow students to shadow me at work, to learn the media biz “from the inside.”  I believe if you give back…you get back…and we all need each other to make it in this world.

I love where I’ve been, what I do and where am I going in this industry.  The possibilities are endless.  But guess what – at the end of the day – my biggest and best productions to date are my two children.  I am a mother FIRST and ALWAYS! 

Hope you enjoy the site…now get to reading! 

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