At noon on Tuesday, March 19th, 2019, FIU’s South Florida Media Network launched an exciting, new platform for students and faculty of the Department of Journalism and Media to produce and publish content. It is an effort done by CARTA, College of Communication, Architecture and the Arts, to create experiences to get students engaged as a tool for experiential learning.
The site created by South Florida Media Network combines multimedia production ranging from articles to videos on a variety of topics catering to both English and Spanish speakers. Students cover local news and stories that other media may not necessarily cover.
“It is generally a student training operation,” as Maria Elena Villar, head of communications for the launch and chair of the department, claims, “It is our mission as an institution is to make sure that students are prepared to write for an actual platform in the future.” This initiative also offers leadership roles and opportunities for students to get further experience in the field since it works as an actual newsroom.
At the launch, Howard Saltz, director of the South Florida Media Network emphasized that this platform for the department is essentially “everything we do that is excellent in one place.”
A benefit to having the platform is that all of the content appearing on the site becomes your portfolio, Teresa Ponte, the department head points out. She finishes by saying that “the idea is that by the time you graduate you will be so ready to receive a job that you will be irresistible.”
Their motto is “Issues Driven. Communities Focused. Student Produced. Faculty Directed” and this effort seems to reflect their initiatives.
Click here to visit the site.