Twelve journalism instructors from U.S. Hispanic Serving Institutions will travel to the U.S., Mexico border region to participate in the 10th annual Dow Jones News Fund Multimedia Training Academy May 31 – June 6 at the University of Texas in El Paso.
Thanks to a grant provided by the Dow Jones News Fund, Borderzine organizes this annual training program geared to support multimedia journalism instructors who teach in institutions with a large minority population.
Here is a list of the 12 instructors who were chosen and their institutions:
- Nancy Garcia, West Texas A&M University
- Jacqueline Fellows, University of North Texas
- Ana Lourdes Cardenas, San Francisco State University
- Stephanie Bluestein, California State University Northridge
- Joel Harris, California State University San Bernadino
- Farideh Dada, San Jose City College
- Fredrick Batiste, Houston Community College System
- Adam Schrag, Fresno Pacific University
- Tara Cuslidge-Staiano, San Joaquin Delta College
- Jenna Duncan, Glendale Community College
- Walter Baranger, California State Fullerton
- Steve Collins, University of Central Florida
The week-long multimedia-journalism academy has a proven track record of helping journalism educators acquire a new skills in digital storytelling that they can use to help prepare prepare the next generation of Latino college journalists for a competitive media market.
“The trainers at the academy understand what educators need to learn about new and emerging technologies to better prepare their students for the fast-changing future” said Linda Shockley, Deputy Director of Dow Jones News Fund. “This quality of instruction at absolutely no cost to participants and their universities is priceless.”
The goal of this experience is to learn and practice news reporting using a variety of digital equipment, software programs and platforms. Participating instructors are expected to translate this learning into training for their students, making them more competitive in the media industry.
The selected participants come from different teaching backgrounds, specializing in print, photojournalism, broadcast and other platforms. As technology is changing so rapidly, it is essential for college instructors to expand their knowledge and increase their skills to teach multimedia journalism effectively. Current media organizations are looking for journalists who know more than just write, take pictures or do video.
This hands-on training takes instructors into the field to cover real stories and gain experience for how involved and time-consuming a multimedia production can be. It also gives professors a chance to collaborate with peers that are struggling with the same challenges. Examples of work published from previous academy sessions can be seen here.
The program director is Kate Gannon, digital content manager for Borderzine.com and an associate professor of practice in the UT El Paso Department of Communication. Academy trainers include nationally-known multimedia consultant and NPR Consultant Project Manager, Doug Mitchell; Borderzine Digital Content Editor and former Digital Content Manager for The Coloradoan Media Group, Kate Gannon; Independent radio reporter, Monica Ortiz Uribe; and broadcast TV veteran Andrew Valencia.
