Borderzine, KTEP News Director Angela Kocherga named to National Association of Hispanic Journalists Hall of Fame

By |

The  National Association of Hispanic Journalists this week named Angela Kocherga who serves as news director for Borderzine and KTEP public radio as a 2023 Hall of Fame inductee. Also among the 2023 inductees is El Paso-based Alfredo Corchado, border correspondent with the Dallas Morning News and a distinguished UTEP graduate. NAHJ’s Hall of Fame honors those journalists whose efforts have resulted in a greater number of Latinos entering the journalism profession or have helped to improve news coverage of the nation’s Latino community. Kocherga is an Emmy winning multimedia journalist. At KTEP she reports in the field on border issues including migration, the border security buildup, binational health, and trade.

12 journalism professors travel to El Paso for the 2023 Dow Jones News Fund Multimedia Training Academy

By |

Twelve journalism instructors from U.S. Hispanic Serving Institutions and Historically Black Colleges are in the Borderland to the U.S-Mexico border region to participate in the 13th annual Dow Jones News Fund Multimedia Training Academy June 2-8, 2023, 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:

Carlton Abernathy – Houston Community College
Dorothy Bland – University of North Texas
Mathew Eichner – Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Jenn Erdley – Prairie View A&M
Cheryl Gardner – Fresno State University
Vera Walker-Hawkins – Texas Southern
Rachele Kanigel – San Francisco State University
Lance Liquez – University of Texas at Arlington
Vinicio Sinta Morales – University of Texas at Arlington
David Shabazz – Kentucky State University
Miglena Sternadori – Texas Tech University
Kathe Lehman Meyer – St. Mary’s University

The week-long multimedia journalism academy has a proven track record of helping journalism educators acquire new skills in digital storytelling that they can use to help prepare the next generation of Latino and Black college journalists for a competitive media market. 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.

Dow Jones News Fund Multimedia Training Academy for journalism professors returns to the Borderland

By |

In early June, nine journalism professors gathered in El Paso to learn new multimedia storytelling skills while exploring life on the U.S., Mexico border. They came from Hispanic-serving Institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities to participate in the 2022 Dow Jones News Fund Multimedia Training Academy hosted at the University of Texas at El Paso from June 4 to June 9.

The academy is a boot camp reporting project where participants learn and refresh their digital media skills as they produce real news stories about the El Paso community for Borderzine.com. Instructors bring these skills back to their classrooms across the country to help their students prepare for jobs in today’s media industry

Former Borderzine editor David Smith-Soto’s novel wins International Latino Book Award

By |

Borderland writer David Smith-Soto’s novel Havana Hallelujah was named the first place winner in Adventure/Drama category in the 2021 International Latino Book Awards this weekend. Smith-Soto was a professor of multimedia journalism at the University of Texas at El Paso from 2004 until his retirement in 2016. He served as editor for Borderzine.com. The International Latino Book Awards is the largest Latino literary recognition program in the U.S.  Presenters for the online awards ceremony on Sunday, Oct. 17 included luminaries like Isabel Allende and Edward James Olmos.

Portrait of late UTEP President Diana Natalicio with dates 1939-2021

Borderzine remembers Diana Natalicio

By |

Diana Natalicio, who served as UTEP’s president from 1988-2019, left an unparalleled legacy on higher education in our region. Her death on Friday at age 82 left UTEP and El Paso grieving, but also celebrating her countless contributions to our community. Dr. Natalicio was an important supporter of Borderzine, whether it was using her influence to provide new computers to our newsroom laboratory or giving generously from her personal funds to support the efforts of our students. We thought it appropriate to share some of the stories that Borderzine students have produced over the years about Dr. Natalicio. These stories touch on a few key points of her legacy.

Dow Jones Multimedia Training Academy 2021 goes online with Navigating Multiple Worlds: Portraits of the children of immigrants

By |

Two journalism students and nine journalism instructors from U.S. Hispanic Serving Institutions explored stories of children of immigrants for the 2021 Dow Jones News Fund Multimedia Training Academy June 5 – 10 hosted virtually by Borderzine through 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.

Binational news collaboration launches to explore important issues for El Paso-Juárez

By |

A unique binational news collaboration will begin publishing stories this week about significant issues facing El Paso and Ciudad Juárez. The partnership, called Puente News Collaborative, will begin with a two-week series of stories that look at how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected our region. This month is the first anniversary of the arrival of COVID-19 in our region, as well as the resulting restrictions on border crossings that disrupted life in our region. The Puente News Collaborative includes news organizations from both sides of the border: La Verdad in Ciudad Juárez; and ABC 7, El Paso Inc., El Paso Matters, El Paso Times, Univision 26, KTEP public radio and Borderzine as part of the UTEP multimedia journalism program in El Paso. The collaboration is made possible by financial support from Microsoft as part of its efforts to preserve and protect journalism and local newsrooms. In December, partners in the collaboration shared an El Paso Times story about the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” program that was published in both English and Spanish.

Hispanic, Latino … a single word is too small to capture who we are

By |

In the leadup to the Nov. 3 election and in its aftermath, there’s been a lot of talk about how Latinos aren’t a monolith, and the messiness of trying to lump so many different people into one group. It’s also something Brandy Ruiz has been thinking about. She’s a journalism student at the University of Texas at El Paso. What, she wondered, does it even mean to be Latino or Hispanic?

Live blog: Your most comprehensive look at the 1st day of early voting in El Paso

By |

El Pasoans are casting ballots at 35 sites across the county. Borderzine staff are at many of the polling places reporting on Tuesday’s first day of early voting for the 2020 election. Here is what they’re seeing. https://twitter.com/RoxannMoreno17/status/1316040025339953163
Related story: 6 Questions About Voting Answered by El Paso County Elections Administrator Lisa Wise


Want to know more about the local candidates in this election? See El Paso Matters’ Voter’s Guide here

The line at the Dorris Van Doren Library in West El Paso this morning.

Culture Shift: Looking at Identity in the Borderland Bubble

By |

In this episode of Our Border Life we talk about those moments when people realize they’re in a culture shift – that something fundamentally has changed about their identity. Specifically, the growing awareness of the multi-layered identities among people living in the U.S-Mexico borderland region of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. https://soundcloud.com/borderzine-reporting-across-fronteras/looking-at-identity-through-the-borderland-bubble

We meet with Gustavo Reveles, who was born in El Paso and spent the first 15 years of his life living on both sides of the border. In a conversation with a friend, Martin Bartlett, Reveles talks about how he didn’t realize he lived in a culture bubble until he moved away for a job after college.  

 

“You grew up thinking you’re both Mexican and American.

The Rarámuri experience in Ciudad Juárez

By |

One of the main indigenous groups in the state of Chihuahua is known as the Tarahumada. They recognize themselves as Rarámuri. Most live in the mountains, but they also have colonies within Ciudad Juarez exclusively for them. Adriana Garcia, a Mixteca Juárense, interviewed Rosalinda Guadalajara, the local governor of the Rarámuri. Transcript (English translation below)
INTRODUCCION: Este verano las universidades de UTEP y UACJ colaboraron para grabar historias personales de ambos lados de esta frontera.

How border journalism learned the value of Spanish and local reporters

By |

A conversation with father and son journalists in El Paso. Aaron Bracamontes, was digital content director for KTSM 9 News at the time of this conversation. He interviews his father, Ramon, former El Paso Times managing editor, about the not-too-distant past when Latinos and the Spanish language weren’t reflected in the makeup of the city’s largest newsroom. Transcript
Aaron Bracamontes:  Me and you have kind of talked about it in the past. The El Paso Times I started at and the El Paso Times I left wasn’t the same El Paso Times that you started at.

12 professors heading to U.S, Mexico border for Dow Jones News Fund Multimedia Training Academy 2019

By |

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.

International commuters worry about possible border shutdown

By |

By Marisol Chavez and Valeria Olivares
University of Texas at El Paso students are experiencing as long as five hours to cross from Juarez and are becoming more anxious as President Donald Trump threatens to close the border. “It’s stressful to think that you might be in Juarez and then the border might shut down,” said Arlen Ozuna, a UTEP student and El Paso Country Club employee. “You’re not going to be able to go to school, you’re not going to be able to go to work.”
The longer and slower lines at the international bridges are affecting people who cross the border regularly for school, work, shopping and even visiting family. At a news conference last week in El Paso, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said he was moving 750 officers from international bridges throughout the Southwest to assist in migrant processing effort. He acknowledge this would disrupt the movement of goods and people across the border, especially over the Semana Santa (Holy Week) period. Long lines have been reported this week at bridges between the U.S. and Mexico throughout the Southwest border.

El Paso’s Segundo Barrio Futbol Club scores U.S. Soccer Foundation award for impact

By |

The U.S. Soccer Foundation this week honored an El Paso program based in one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods for making a difference in sports-based youth development. The Segundo Barrio Futbol Club was presented the 2019 Urban Soccer Symposium Award for Impact at the foundation’s 13th annual Urban Soccer Symposium March 18 in Washington, D.C. Awards for organizations or individuals were presented in three categories: influence, innovation, and impact. Related: Love of Segundo Barrio leads Englishman to form soccer club

“It is with great pleasure that we present the third annual Urban Soccer Symposium Awards to We Can Kick It, Segundo Barrio FC, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel,” Ed Foster-Simeon, President and CEO of the U.S. Soccer Foundation said in a press release. “It is because of the innovations of organizations and individuals like these that we continue to grow as a community and, in turn, are able to positively impact more and more young lives through sport.”

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel received the 2019 Influence Award, which was awarded to an individual holding public office who has leveraged his or her position to support, advocate for, and champion sports-based youth development efforts in underserved communities. We Can Kick It received the 2019 Innovation Award for using soccer as a tool to inspire and empower children and their families affected by cancer. 

Segundo Barrio FC received the Impact Award for its work using soccer as a tool for social change by developing programs that foster the physical, mental, and emotional growth of youth in the El Paso, Texas neighborhood, Segundo Barrio. Founded in 2011, Segundo Barrio FC is a volunteer-run organization and started with just one team.

Photo Gallery: March for Truth in El Paso

By |

A coalition of 40 organizations, possible presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke and U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar marched about a mile with some 10,000 people to Delta Park as part of a March for Truth to counter the President Donald Trump’s rally at the nearby El Paso County Coliseum on Monday evening. Carrying homemade signs in English and Spanish, the crowd  called for improved human rights, peace and an end to lies about the border. The march ended at the park with speeches by O’Rourke, Escobar and live music.

Photo Gallery: Trump Rally in El Paso

By |

Thousands of cheering people joined President Donald Trump for a Make American Great Again rally – his first of the year – at the El Paso County Coliseum on Monday evening while thousands more outside the building watched his speech on a big screen erected in the parking lot. Trump was joined on stage by Texas GOP Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, as well as Donald Trump Jr. prior to the rally. The nationwide audience carried Build the Wall and Finish the Wall signs as the president extolled the virtues of a wall and reducing illegal immigration in one of the safest cities in the United States.

Trump greets cheering supporters at small rally in El Paso as thousands fill the streets nearby to protest his harsh border policies

By |

President Donald Trump took his fight for a border wall to El Paso on Monday as a coalition of anti-wall protestors staged a competing rally at the same time not far from the County Coliseum where the president held his gathering. Trump took to the stage about 7:20 p.m, before an enthusiastic crowd in the 6,500 capacity coliseum, which was originally built for rodeos and livestock shows. The president was flanked by banners calling for “Finish the Wall.”

Photo gallery: Trump rally in El Paso February 2019
Photo gallery: March for Truth in El Paso February 2019

The competing March for Truth was organized by a coalition led by the Border Network for Human Rights, Women’s March El Paso and some 40 other community partners and included speeches by former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, and current congresswoman Veronica Escobar (D-El Paso). 
El Paso has been at the center of the controversy over a border wall as Trump has demanded Congress fund $5.7 billion to erect a wall, saying it is necessary to keep the United States safe from illegal immigration, which he has called a crisis. In his State of the Union address, Trump declared El Paso was a dangerous place before the wall, but El Paso officials dispute that depiction, saying the city has been one of the safest in the nation long before border fencing was installed. The government shut down for a record 35 days from Dec.

2018 Borderzine Photo Contest Sin Fronteras Without Borders Official Rules

By |

Sponsor
Sponsor is The University of Texas at El Paso on behalf of its College of Liberal Arts, Department of Communication Borderzine publication (“Sponsor”). Entry Submission
The submission term for the 2018 Borderzine Photo Contest: Sin Fronteras – Without Borders (the “Contest”) begins August 29, 2018, at 12:00:00 p.m. U.S. Mountain Standard Time (“MST”) and ends November 1, 2018, at 12:00:00 p.m. MST (“Entry Deadline”). ONLY entries received by the Entry Deadline will be considered. By submitting an entry, each entrant agrees to the Official Rules as established herein and warrants that his or her entry complies with all requirements set out in the Official Rules. This is a skill-based contest and chance plays no part in the determination of winners.

UTEP’s Borderzine wins prestigious national journalism grant for bi-national media project to tell real story of the borderlands

By |

EL PASO – Borderzine – the University of Texas at El Paso’s award-winning web magazine – received a $35,000 grant from the Online News Association to fund a binational journalism multimedia project between the communities of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. Students from UTEP, El Paso Community College and the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juarez will work together on the project called “Engaging Community Across Borders Through Media.”

“It’s an ambitious project to engage border residents from the U.S. and Mexico sides to better relate to the rest of the world the reality of the border minus the usual stereotypes,” said Zita Arocha, professor of practice at UTEP and director of Borderzine. Local media from both sides of the border also will participate in the project with the goal of helping communities identify solutions to common binational issues such as immigration, transportation, environmental challenges, socio-economic development and health and medical needs, Arocha said. Key media partners include KTEP, El Diario de El Paso, El Paso Times, El Paso Inc., Ser Empresario, KVIA, Univision, Telemundo and KFOX. More than a dozen students from UTEP, EPCC and UACJ will work as a team to produce multilingual content about the borderlands – from podcasts to video stories to an e-book designed to dispel common myths about the region, Arocha said.

Borderzine among 150 newsrooms in national fundraising campaign supporting quality journalism

By |

Washington, D.C. – The Borderzine Reporting Across Fronteras project at UT El Paso is among more than 150 nonprofit newsrooms across the country that will participate in this year’s NewsMatch, the largest grassroots fundraising campaign to support nonprofit news organizations. The national call-to-action will launch on Nov. 1, 2018. In 2017 NewsMatch helped to raise more than $4.8 million from individual donors and a coalition of private funders. This year the number of nonprofit news organizations participating has jumped by more than 40 percent.

Sin Fronteras, Without Borders Photo Submission

By |

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Borderzine’s work covering Border Life and increasing diversity in newsrooms by showcasing the best photojournalism by college students. The theme of our contest is Sin Frontiers – Without Borders, but is not limited to pictures about the border. Far from it. The theme of the contest is wide open. We want students to capture in their photos anything that is without borders.

Festival gives El Paso a taste of the Middle East

By |

EL PASO – The annual Feast of the Middle East is an opportunity for border residents to sample great food and learn more about the culture of their neighbors who trace their roots back to the Mideast. Parishioners of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church, 120 Festival, work for months to prepare authentic specialty dishes and arrange live Arabic music and folk dance for the weekend festival. Guided tours of the church will be available. The 2018 festival will run from noon to 10 p.m. on Saturday, June 2 and from noon to 8 p.m. on Sunday, June 3 on the church grounds at 120 Festival Dr. Tickets are $2.