Why crowdfunding a data journalism lab in El Paso is so important

Since 2008, Borderzine.com has told the stories of the people and culture of the Borderlands reported by multimedia student journalists at UT El Paso. In 2012, Borderzine was honored by the Online News Association for Mexodus, an unprecedented bilingual special project that documented the flight of people and businesses from Mexico during the peak of drug cartel violence. Now, Borderzine is partnering with professional newsrooms in El Paso, Las Cruces and Juarez to develop a Border Data Journalism Lab to be based at UT El Paso to build local expertise in using digital tools to examine the systems and policies affecting our region

As more and bigger data are being collected by governments and organizations it is increasingly important for journalists to be able to obtain, clean, analyze and present information in this digital world. And, in our location on the U.S.-Mexico border, data journalism can be a powerful tool in telling the stories of the border and a changing America. For example, data journalists could examine issues in health care access and the impact of chronic illnesses on the border to better identify challenges and potential solutions in health disparities between Latinos and other populations.

Changing the world a story at a time

 

El Paso – Want to get people to take action to fix a social problem? Entertain them with a story, Anu Sachdev says. Sachdev, a UTEP Communication graduate who is now program manager for “edu-tainment” specialists PCI Media Impact, came back to El Paso recently to show UTEP students and faculty how storytelling is shifting the audience view to pay attention to social global issues. Speaking at a brown bag session Oct. 30 at the Sam Donaldson Center for Media Studies, Sachdev emphasized an entertainment education approach to social change locally and globally.

Borderzine wins one 0f ’50 States for Good’ grants from Tom’s of Maine

Borderzine, a bilingual journalism training program based at The University of Texas at El Paso, has been selected as one of 52 winners from across the country in the seventh annual Tom’s of Maine “50 States for Good” community giving program. Borderzine was selected to represent the state of Texas and will receive $20,000 to fund its mission of transforming U.S. newsrooms into more inclusive workplaces that reflect the nation’s demographic diversity by placing more young journalists of color in news internships and jobs. “This generous gift from Tom’s of Maine advances in significant ways Borderzine’s mission to prepare a young generation of multicultural journalists that reflects and interprets the real story of immigration and the borderlands for the rest of America,” said Zita Arocha, director of Borderzine and associate professor in UTEP’s Department of Communication. Specifically, the funds will be used for a combination of internships, technical support for the Borderzine website and recruitment efforts for Borderzine’s annual high school journalism workshop. The contest’s process began with community members taking to social media pages to share #OneWaytoHelp their communities, amassing nearly 10,000 submissions.

Borderzine and Univision 26 showcase the next generation of bilingual journalists

EL PASO – A special collaboration between Borderzine and Noticias Univision 26, one of the biggest media outlets in the borderland, gave the opportunity to four bilingual students majoring in multimedia journalism at UT El Paso to showcase their journalistic abilities. Journalism students Mabel Gutierrez, Sara Villegas, Esther Jurado and Daniel Alvarez worked with Channel 26-KINT TV on a special assignment focusing on the university and student life. All four of them shot, edited and wrote their own stories which aired on the Spanish-language TV station. The constantly shifting media landscape in the contemporary world has created a new type of journalist. Multimedia journalists, or MMJ’s, are able to produce a stories on their own that used to be done with a crew of two or more people.

Cal State LA celebrates the life of the martyred border journalist Rubén Salazar

California State University, Los Angeles, celebrated the 87th birthday of the late Mexican-American journalist Rubén Salazar with the inauguration of an exhibit entitled “Legacy of Rubén Salazar: A Man of His Words, a Man of His Time” that will be on display at the University’s John F. Kennedy Memorial Library until March 26. Salazar was a Mexican-American journalist who was struck and killed by a tear gas canister fired by a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputy during the National Chicano Moratorium March on August 29, 1970. He was 42. “Rubén Salazar was with our people by reporting accurately, fairly and perceptively about our people when he was working as a reporter. Today Latinos become larger in numbers, but not necessarily better understood by the media or our society,” said Dr. Felix Gutierrez noted Chicano and Mexican-American history and journalism scholar.

Diversity champion Dori Maynard remembered as ‘amazing force for good’ in journalism

By Mallary Jean Tenore, ivoh.org

The journalism world is mourning the loss of Dori J. Maynard, who passed away from lung cancer on Tuesday. She was 56. Maynard was president of the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, which her father co-founded. During her time as president, the institute offered diversity training to journalists around the country and launched programs aimed at empowering community members to tell personal narratives. “You can hardly put into words how important the work Dori and the Maynard Institute did to train young people of color for careers in journalism and how the institute trained the media to write fair stories about communities of color,” Bob Butler, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, said in a comment on the institute’s website.

Ebola coverage too important to be a competition, editor tells journalists

After reports of an El Paso hospital closing its emergency room over a possible Ebola case burned like wildfire through social media Friday, Bob Moore, editor of the El Paso Times, posted the following cautionary note on his Facebook account:

“Something important to remember about reports of the closure of the Del Sol ER and any possible connection with Ebola:

Hospitals across the country have been dealing with concerns about possible Ebola cases. They react with an abundance of caution, as is appropriate. But in every case except those tied to the case in Dallas, tests have all turned up negative. We in the media should be informative but not alarmist.”

On Saturday the hospital released a statement saying its emergency room did not close. It explained that a patient’s symptoms and answers during a screening process triggered infectious disease protocols.

Images of Latinos in U.S. culture to be examined in 1-night lecture, exhibit at UT El Paso

The UTEP Department of Communication and the Chicano Studies program presents a lecture and exhibit by Dr. William Anthony Nericcio that examines American visual culture reflecting images and stereotypes of Latinas/os. The event, Mextasy: Seductive Hallucinations of Latina/o Mannequins Prowling the American Unconscious , will be at  5:30 pm, Wednesday, Oct. 15 in Quinn Hall Room 212 at the University of Texas at El Paso. 

Mextasy is a traveling art show/exhibit based on the work of William “Memo” Nericcio and Guillermo Nericcio García. The show, originally curated by Rachel Freyman Brown, South Texas College, McAllen, Texas, had its last exhibition at Boise State University, for the Third Cinema Research Group and El Consulado de México en Boise, Idaho on April 11, 2014.  

Mextasy both reflects and expands upon Nericcio’s 2007 book with UT Press, Tex[t]-Mex: Seductive Hallucinations of the Mexican in America.

Street Photography exhibit, rare Beatles print Oct. 23 to help journalism students

Borderzine.com, a digital publication based at UT El Paso that focuses on achieving diversity in news media, announces an exhibit of photographs by  journalism professor David Smith-Soto at the Glass Gallery of the Fox Fine Arts Center on the UTEP campus, October 23 to 31. An opening reception of the exhibit at 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23 will help celebrate the 6th anniversary of Borderzine, an award-winning web news portal and online community for Latino student journalists. Attendees will learn about the online publication’s future plans and programs, and have an opportunity to help send UTEP multimedia journalism students to news internships throughout the United States. A celebration of photojournalism

The 24 prints from Smith-Soto’s 60-years of street photography were taken during his travels as a journalist in Latin American, European and U.S. cities.  They include images from Oaxaca, Ciudad Juarez, Guatemala, Tangier, Paris and Madrid.

Message to news media: Embrace diversity if you want to survive and thrive

Editor’s note: This commentary is part of Borderzine’s continuing series about the growing urgency to transform newsrooms into diverse work places. By Hugo Balta

Diversity doesn’t happen easily. It is slow progressive change. The pundit who asks, “why don’t they just hire more _____,” fails to understand the fiscal constraints in which media companies operate under. Newsroom budgets continuously contract in the ever-changing new technology economy.

Borderzine names digital pioneer as web content manager

Borderzine, a digital media outlet dedicated to promoting diversity in media, has named multimedia editor and digital strategist Kate Gannon as digital content manager. Gannon has more than 25 years experience on the leading edge of change in newsrooms. She was news systems editor at the El Paso Times where she oversaw technology research and training for journalists and supervised the newsroom’s new media department for online, broadcasting and non-daily publications. In 2005, Gannon was named new media manager of content for the Fort Collins Coloradoan where she helped develop multimedia, data and other digital strategies to successfully grow Coloradoan Media Group into the leading news and information provider in Northern Colorado. She returned to El Paso in 2011 with her husband, El Paso Times Editor Robert Moore, and has been working as a digital content and social media consultant. “I believe Kate’s extensive experience as a journalist, new media manager and teacher make her an excellent fit for Borderzine,” said Borderzine Director Zita Arocha.

Border writer Charles Bowden remembered for his passion for the truth

By Dylan Smith – TusconSentinel.com

Reporter and author Charles Bowden — he eschewed the term “journalist” — is

dead. The longtime Southern Arizonan recently moved to New Mexico and focused

his work on the dangerous turmoil of Ciudad Juarez. Bowden was a dogged investigative reporter and brilliant storyteller with a passion

for the truth. A finalist for a 1984 Pulitzer Prize, he won numerous other awards and

the respect of reporters everywhere with his gritty yet painstaking work. “People felt that so much of his work dwelt in the dark side and was mired in

negativity.

Study: MSNBC spent most time on Ferguson story, Fox the least

A new study reveals significant differences in prime time coverage by three major news outlets of the protests in Ferguson, Mo.. MSNBC, Fox and CNN differed in the amount of coverage provided after the death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. According to a study done by the Pew Research Center, out of the three major cable news outlets, MSNBC devoted the most coverage to Ferguson, followed by CNN, and Fox News, which devoted the least amount of coverage. The study analyzed 18 hours of programming from Sunday Aug. 9, to Friday Aug.

Changing the complexion of news media calls for revolución

It’s time to shatter the myth that young Latino journalists won’t leave home for jobs in news media. This thought and others flashed in neon across my mind as I sipped white wine recently in a San Antonio ballroom to celebrate 30 years of tilling the soil to transform newsrooms into diverse work places by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. As the speeches and awards played out on stage, I recalled the offensive words of a top news media recruiter not so many years ago.  The recruiter, in his early fifties, had come from Washington, DC to UT El Paso, where I teach journalism, to meet with our journalism students. We thought he was coming to talk about jobs and internships. Instead he lambasted me and my journalism colleagues for producing journalism graduates who “aren’t aggressive enough, do not speak up and refuse to leave home for jobs elsewhere.”

Old stereotypes linger among recruiters

While we were all too stunned to respond, his insensitive comments didn’t surprise me.

Declining minority representation in American newsrooms dominates discussion at convention of Hispanic journalists

SAN ANTONIO – The celebration of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ 30th anniversary was brought to a sobering pause last week when Hispanic Link News Service publisher Charlie Ericksen voiced his dissatisfaction with the progress mainstream media have made in diversifying the staffs of their newsrooms.

Hispanic journalists from all corners of the country made their way here to the NAHJ convention to celebrate its three decades of advocating for more minority participation in news media. Much of the talk at the four-day NAHJ convention was on the diversification of newsrooms throughout the United States and that conversation became a strident argument. During the convention’s final event – the Gala and Awards banquet – the association recognized news organizations that had “increased the visibility and accurate representation of Latinos in cable news,” including CNN, PBS, Buzzfeed and Fox News Latino. Ericksen, 84, a founding member of NAHJ, was given a chance to speak when he was recognized for his lifetime of work in newsroom diversity. He told the gathering that celebrating increased visibility and accurate representation of Latinos in the media by honoring a network such as Fox News was a “kind of a farce.” He also said that despite the organization’s 30 years of work on increasing newsroom diversity the number of Latinos in mainstream newsrooms has actually declined.

Borderzine announces selected participants for fifth Dow Jones Multimedia Training Academy

 

EL PASO — Twelve journalism instructors have been selected to participate in the fifth annual Dow Jones Multimedia Training Academy in early June at the University of Texas in El Paso. Thanks to a grant provided by the Dow Jones News Fund, Borderzine organizes this fifth annual workshop training geared to multimedia journalism instructors who teach in institutions with a large Hispanic population. The chosen instructors come from seven states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico:

Celeste Gonzalez de Bustamante, University of Arizona
Christopher Temple Northup, University of Houston
Jay Seidel, Fullerton College
Joe Hale Cutbirth, Manhathan College
Kirstie Elizabeth Hettinga, California Lutheran University
Laura Lynn Camden, Northern Arizona University
Michael Vincent Marcotte, University of New Mexico
Michele D. Mohr, Morton College
Richard Eugene Brunson, University of Central Florida
Susannah Nesmith, Barry University
Tsitsi D. Wakhisi, University of Miami
Yadira Nieves-Pizarro, Inter American University

This intense multimedia-journalism academy has a proven track record of four successful years helping journalism educators acquire a new skill set in multimedia production. “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 new storytelling skills through the use of current technology.

ImpreMedia CEO — Latino journalism is now less about language and culture and more about competing as major media

EL PASO — The Chief Executive Officer of ImpreMedia, the nation’s leading Hispanic Media Company, told students at the University of Texas at El Paso that media today must inform, educate and empower communities. Born into mainstream media — Monica Lozano’s father owned the powerful La Opinion, a Spanish language newspaper in Los Angeles — she quickly realized that she would find her destiny in the field of journalism. Lozano said she trained teams of Spanish language journalists to do groundbreaking reporting, which had a lasting effect on the profession and the community. “The evolution of the Latino community and media, that is my greatest achievement,” she told a group of students and faculty at UTEP. Her professional life took a new turn in 1990 when she moved from the journalistic side of media to the business side.

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.

Elio Leturia (far right) and his group of reporters, photojournalist John Freeman and multimedia professor Elizabeth Marsh, interviewing Kate Bonasinga, director of the Rubin Center. (Lourdes Cueva Chacón/Borderzine.com)

Dow Jones Multimedia Training Academy

Twelve journalism professors were welcomed in early June in El Paso where the temperature hit 110 degrees. “Summer started earlier for me,” I thought. We all had been selected to participate in a multimedia training geared to journalism professors who teach in cities with a large Hispanic population. The chosen states? California, Florida, Texas and Illinois.

UTEP Summer Workshop to Focus on Web Journalism for a Multimedia Age

NOW ACCEPTING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT NOMINATIONS FOR JOURNALISM IN JULY

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: APRIL 2, 2010 (Deadline extended to April 16, 2010)

To all El Paso area high school journalism/media advisors:

We invite you to nominate your top journalism students for “Journalism in July” on the UTEP campus from July 9-17. This summer’s 9-day residential workshop trains high school journalists in the basics of news reporting and writing and how to use digital tools (video, audio, photography) to tell stories on the web. Students will also create their own multimedia web magazine filled with news and enterprise stories and featuring digital photography and video. The 20 student journalists will live on the UTEP campus  at the Miner Village dormitories. There is no cost to attend the workshop.