In a year, we have published about 140 stories in The Miami Herald, The Sun-Sentinel and The Palm Beach Post – and posted more than a dozen videos on the corresponding websites.
We all know there are challenges - but many more opportunities are yet ahead for the right kind of journalist that holds dear the fundamental values of accuracy, balance and fairness while maintaining an open and positive attitude.
Zaimarie De Guzman is one of them. She is an example of the kind of journalist we are forming through a model of journalism education that fully trains students for the real world.
It is not enough anymore to be just a good journalist. It takes more than reporting, writing and multimedia skills to succeed in today’s newsrooms. The success stories come from flexibility, humility and true commitment to journalism.
De Guzman joined the SFNS in the spring 2010, the semester she was graduating. She immediately showed a natural instinct for news and enormous dedication and persistency. With some mentoring, she blossomed into a great reporter and writer and was soon selected to become the first student to be embedded as a reporter at The Palm Beach Post.
“I had deadlines [at the SFNS], interviews and meetings,” De Guzman said. “I had to drive in neighborhoods I had never been in before. I had to talk to highly influential people in the community. I had to dig deep for the facts. It didn't get any more real than that.”
She soon started publishing on a regular basis and built a solid portfolio, which led her to an internship in Stuart, Fla.
“What I learned from the service allowed me to succeed in an internship at Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers, which was recommended to me by Allan Richards,” De Guzman said.
As the summer internship was ending, De Guzman – a print journalism student - was offered a full time job as a multimedia journalist at the Stuart News and has recently published a powerful op-ed piece at the paper.
“Had I not participated in SFNS, I would have never learned to be a professional and perfectionist at what I do,” De Guzman said. “Though a bachelor’s degree is very important to employers, what counts is experience, personality and professionalism, and those are three of the many things I learned with the service.”
That’s precisely what students and faculty at The School of Journalism and Mass Communication at FIU heard this semester at Scripps Day 2010.
It came out clearly in conversations throughout that day that Scripps is hiring – but only the right kind of journalists, the ones we hope to create at FIU.
Christin Erazo, who graduated in the fall 2009 and like De Guzman worked closely with the SFNS and The Palm Beach Post, is another one.
“As recognition for the news service grew, so did employer's interest in my resume,” said Erazo who is also currently working under a year fellowship for Scripps Treasure Coast Papers in Stuart. “Employers nowadays are looking for applicants with experience and ambition, and being part of an organization as dynamic as the South Florida News Service, reflects those qualities,” she said. “I have to thank the SFNS for creating the building blocks to my success.”
Both De Guzman and Erazo are a product of the first phase of the SFNS, when we were still building credibility with newspaper editors and creating the buzz at school, so we could generate interest in the right kind of student.
We initially thought graduating seniors would be the best candidates, as they had the necessary skills to produce the articles. But we soon learned that it wasn’t only the skills that made De Guzman and Erazo succeed. It was their passion for journalism, their positive attitude, their willingness to learn and their commitment to be a better journalist every time they report and write a story that have got them hired.
The SFNS is still open to graduating seniors, but the program is no longer embedded in any course directly. We work in partnership with all professors and classes, but each student must apply as if for a job. Everyone in the SJMC is invited to participate in the weekly news meetings and pitch story ideas. But only those who show up regularly, contribute and actually publish can fully join the service and get a press credential.
We currently have about 30 students enrolled on an experimental basis but “hired” only four this semester. They are all young and will stay in school for another year or two, enough time to prepare them well for a successful career in journalism.
Silvana Ordonez is one of them. She had her first official encounter with journalism this fall, when she took Introduction to Journalism with Allan Richards, SJMC associate dean and the vision behind the SFNS. Ordonez has since published a couple of stories at The Miami Herald, has one ready to be published and is finishing another one.
“South Florida News Service is an incredible opportunity for students in the field of journalism to gain real experience, exposure and the right training to be ready for a job right after graduation,” Ordonez said. “The SFNS is giving me the right tools to develop my career as a journalist, and I think that it will be the path to many job opportunities.”
Amelia Gonzalez, who started working with the SFNS in the summer, agrees.
“I can honestly say that the SFNS is the best thing that has happened to me in my three years of college,” she said, adding that it has given her confidence as a reporter. “The SFNS has turned me into a watchdog, just waiting to smell the news.”
Gonzalez is the next in line to become the SFNS correspondent at The Palm Beach Post in the beginning of the year - and another student, Isadora Rangel, who just graduated, was selected for the prestigious New York Times Student Journalism Institute, which will take place Jan. 2-16 at FIU. After that, she will be moving to Stuart, following the footsteps of De Guzman and Erazo.
Thanks so much to all the editors, FIU faculty and students who have made the SFNS such great success!
We built, they came and they conquered!
Happy Holidays and a New Year full of hope for the future of journalism!!!
0 comments:
Post a Comment