Knight Poverty Journalism Initiative Story Awards – Deadline extended to October 26

Who: Open to journalists of all kinds—salaried, freelance, semi-pro. What: Three $500 awards for journalists to report, write and publish a print, video, audio or multimedia story about poverty in America. When: Deadline for developed story proposals is October 26, 2012 . Where: Email your story proposal to Joan Millon (millonj@wlu.edu) with “Poverty Story Awards” in the subject line. Proposals should include the following:

• Description of your story up to 500 words
• Story lead or premise and why your story is important NOW
• Data sources, main characters and additional sources
• Main medium (print, broadcast, online)
• If primarily text or broadcast, do you plan to include a multimedia component (video, audio, photo, graphics) and how will that enhance the story?

border patrol agent

Security gains in the border region seem tenuous at best according to a study by the Woodrow Wilson Center

WASHINGTON – Concerns about global terrorism, potential threats posed by those entering the United States illegally, and fears that skyrocketing violence in Mexico might spillover into the United States have led to dramatic policy shifts and significant efforts to secure the border. Yet gains in areas such as apprehensions of undocumented migrants and reductions in violence in key cities such as Ciudad Juarez seem tenuous at best and beg for more comprehensive, creative and collaborative solutions between these two countries, according to a report released by the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute. The U.S. and Mexican federal governments have made large investments in staffing, infrastructure and technology and have reorganized and refocused efforts to respond to specific threats and events according to the report by Eric L. Olson and Erik Lee, entitled The State of Security in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region. 

The working paper, which explores these challenges and some potential solutions, will be published in this fall as a chapter in the forthcoming State of the Border Report, which seeks to provide a comprehensive yet accessible look at the state of affairs in border management and the border region. The study will focus on four core areas: trade and economic development, security, sustainability, and quality of life. The State of the Border Report is an initiative of the Border Research Partnership, which is comprised of the, Arizona State University’s North American Center for Transborder Studies, and el Colegio de la Frontera Norte.

npr

NPR to launch initiative on race, ethnicity and culture with $1.5 million grant from Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Six-person news team forming this fall; will develop distinctive voice and lead conversations on-air, online

By Anna Christopher

Las Vegas, N.V. – Today at the UNITY 2012 Convention, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced it will award NPR a $1.5 million grant to launch a major journalism initiative to deepen coverage of race, ethnicity and culture, and to capture the issues that define an increasingly diverse America. With this expansive effort, NPR will produce compelling stories and present new voices and conversations online and on-air, staffed by a six-person team. “This new team and defined area of coverage will empower NPR to cover news and issues across the U.S. more fully, delivering on our promise for NPR to look and sound like America,” said Gary E. Knell, President and CEO of NPR. “CPB’s forward-thinking commitment to diversity challenges public media to do more, and to do better, and we accept that challenge wholeheartedly.”

Once assembled, this team of six journalists will deliver a steady flow of distinctive coverage on every platform. Reporting will magnify the range of existing efforts across NPR and its Member Stations to cover and discuss race, ethnicity and culture.

Borderzine Director Zita Arocha and Knight Eric Newton, senior adviser to the President at the Knight Foundation, at the Knight offices in Miami. (David Smith-Soto/Borderzine.com)

Journalism education reform: How far should it go?

Editor’s note – Eric Newton, senior adviser to the President at Knight Foundation, gave this speech as the keynote address May 11, 2012 at a national conference of journalism educators, “Journalism Education in the Digital Age,” at Middle Tennessee State University. In 2005, two of America’s largest foundations created the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education. This was before Facebook got big. Before Twitter, Instagram, Groupon or Pinterest. Before the iPhone or the iPad.

The Varela Awards for Journalism will award up to $40,000 dollars in cash prices.

National VARELA Awards for Journalism to celebrate the 1st Amendment and new American journalism

PHILADELPHIA – The Félix Varela Awards for Excellence in American Journalism, the awards established 4 years ago by the AL DIA Foundation, will be, for 2012, also a celebration of one of the pillars of the US Constitution, the First Amendment. The Varela Awards will recognize the best feature writing, best blogging, best documentary, and best photojournalism on Latino and Multicultural Issues in America. The VARELA Awards, offers the largest cash prize in its category, giving $10,000 per award, along with a golden medal of Father Félix Varela, an American intellectual of Latino origin who had a great impact on 19th Century America. The announcement was made at Temple University’s School of Communications and Theater in Philadelphia, PA, by the Chairman of the AL DIA Foundation, Hernán Guaracao, and Temple University School of Communication and Theater’s Interim Dean,Thomas Jacobson. They officially opened the competition, calling for submissions between now and August 2012.

Borderzine.com to host second Multimedia Journalism Academy for college instructors at UTEP

EL PASO — Borderzine.com at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is set to host its second annual Multimedia Training Academy thanks to generous support from the Dow Jones News Fund. The $24,000 grant from Dow Jones News Fund provides scholarships to 12 journalism professors from Hispanic Serving Institutions across the country to attend the multimedia training academy at UTEP May 20-26.  After the week of hand’s on training in the latest digital tools for producing multimedia journalism, the professors will complete multimedia assignments in the field for posting on the Borderzine.com website. “The Dow Jones News Fund is delighted to partner for a second year with The University of Texas at El Paso and its Multimedia Training Academy,” said Rich Holden, executive director of DJNF. “I had the privilege of visiting last year’s program, and I was impressed with the facilities, the quality of training and the interest shown by all of the participants.

Epidemia de secuestros aniquila los negocios de Juárez

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, México — Los carteles mexicanos están intensificando una nueva modalidad de violencia  —el secuestro de comerciantes de diversas zonas, para obtener fondos. Fuentes advierten que los secuestros son más intensos en lugares con mucha demanda comercial, como en el caso de la zona centro, en donde cada día son menos los negocios que están abiertos al público porque a diario los dueños son amenazados. Según estas fuentes, es más difícil el tráfico de narcóticos, por lo que el elemento criminal ha optado por este nuevo tipo de extorsión. “Varios de nosotros que tenemos negocios aquí en el centro hemos sido amenazados, y por lo cual tenemos que pagar la cuota,” dijo un comerciante de esta zona. Se le pidió cierta cantidad de dinero, la llamada “cuota”, para poder seguir laborando.

The mayor of Juarez looks back on his achievements

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Chihuahua – When he was elected as Mayor of this border city in 2007, José Reyes Ferriz had no idea that he had won the most difficult municipal job in the world, running a city that had earned the title of the “murder capital of the world.”

The chaos and terror of a war between drug cartels that has killed some 7,000 persons in Juarez since he took office, Reyes Ferriz said in an exclusive interview with Borderzine.com, forced him to focus his efforts on insuring the safety of the citizenry. With that in mind, Reyes Ferriz placed the reconstruction of the city’s police force at the top of his list of priorities. Corruption was ingrained in all branches of the police force bureaucracy, he said. “Part of the police force reconstruction was recruiting and training new officers. The government hired 2200 new officers to bring the total to 3000.

Juarez Drug War Criminals Even Shake Down the Street Vendors

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, México — Daytime here displays a busy city, alive and full of productive energy. Street vendors hawk their products, restaurants await the rush hour crowds and mechanics do tune-ups out of their homes. These images of a normalcy, however, are deceptive. More than 5,000 of Juarez businesses have closed their doors permanently during the past four years of drug war violence, according to Cámara de Comercio de Juárez, which has infected every aspect of Juarenses’ life. Nighttime is a different creature altogether, according to Martín, the owner of a few very profitable food stands in Juárez and no stranger to the cartels.

Damas de Blanco reciben apoyo en El Paso

EL PASO, Texas — Las Damas de Blanco, familiares de presos políticos en Cuba, fueron apoyadas el fin de semana por casi un centenar de sus paisanos radicados en la ciudad de El Paso, Texas. El sostén moral se hizo patente a través de una manifestación, en Crestmont Park, con reclamos de “justicia y libertad de expresión” para estas mujeres reprimidas en varias ocasiones en la isla. “Son madres, esposas, hijas, hermanas, de prisioneros de conciencia que han sido encarcelados por solo decir lo que piensan en contra del régimen de los hermanos Castro”, dijo, la organizadora de la protesta, Niurka Curbelo. Agregó: “El único delito de estas mujeres es caminar por las calles de La Habana, vestidas con el color de la paz y con flores en sus manos, para mostrar el dolor que sienten por lo que han hecho con sus familiares”. Los cubanos reunidos este sábado, en el Oeste de la ciudad, también vestían de blanco, portaban gladiolos, banderas de Cuba, carteles y fotografías de las víctimas, al estilo de aquellas mujeres.