The Dow Jones News Fund Multimedia Training Academy is a hands-on “boot camp” that captures real stories from the community around the University of Texas at El Paso. Teams of trainees have covered agriculture stories on the far eastern edge of El Paso county, participated in ride-alongs with the U.S. Border Patrol, documented the craft of boot making, navigated the fiesta atmosphere of swap meets and even captured a cross-border cattle drive in southern New Mexico. Those are just a few of the assignments and exercises our teams have undertaken. This year’s focus was on immigration.
The participants worked in teams to create multimedia story packages that were published on the bilingual border life magazine website Borderzine.com.
Multimedia Training Academy projects and participants:
Sanctuary is in the fabric of El Paso, not the label: Produced by John M. Gonzales of California State University, Long Beach and Alex Hinojosa, El Paso Community College.
Border Patrol ride along gets real when migrant family appears: Produced by Jon Beaupre, California State University, Los Angeles; Jennifer Erdely, Prairie View A&M University; Brad Mello, Saint Xavier University; and Jennifer Thomas, Howard University.
College grad in limbo after ICE roundup reveals secret, splits family: Produced by Toni De Aztlan, Northern Arizona University; Mariam Betlemidze, California State University, San Bernardino; and Sylvia Ulloa, New Mexico In Depth.
Security, trade, family bind both sides of border: Produced by Cleo Allen, Dillard University; Pam Frederick, Hunter College; Wendy L. Moore, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi; and Gerald Townsend, Texas A&M University, San Antonio.
