The University of Miami’s School of Communication opened its doors July 5 to the eager students from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach school districts. They lived in campus housing and attended workshops in the school led by Workshop Director Yves Colon, School of Communication lecturer and former Miami Herald reporter and editor.

Visiting professionals included Myriam Marquez, columnist and chair of the editorial board at the Miami Herald; Joe Garcia, a recent nominee for a seat in the House of Representatives and former head of the Cuban American National Foundation; and John Lantigua, writer for the Palm Beach Post. They provided students the inside “scoop” on daily journalism practices, particularly journalism’s evolution from print to web-based publishing.

“Journalism is not dead, it’s just changing,” said Reed Cowan, anchor/reporter at WSVN, Channel 7, and speaker at the workshop’s closing ceremony, which took place July 25. “The worst thing you can do for yourself is be a ‘one trick pony.’ While you’re in school, take advantage of the resources around you. In this business it’s better to be good at a lot of things instead of great at a few.”

Students toured the SunSentinel, the Miami Herald, and WSVN-Channel 7 to experience a live newsroom and the work involved in creating a daily newspaper, both print and online, and news broadcasts.

“We got a chance to take a behind the scenes tour of the broadcast station, which was awesome,” said Alexa Volland of Seminole High in St. Petersburg, a workshop participant. “Seeing the way a paper works was kind of overwhelming in a way, and made me think about where I might be in four years.”

This year’s program theme was the changing relationship between the United States and Cuba. The students produced Miami Montage, a tabloid-size newspaper, a corresponding website and multimedia news stories.

“We picked this topic because of the recent changes in the relationship between the two countries since the election [of Barack Obama], knowing the deep impact on southern Florida,” said Colon. “We thought there was no other place more suited to explore this fascinating subject.”

Students who go through the workshop and apply to the University of Miami are eligible to receive a four-year, half-tuition scholarship to attend UM’s School of Communication. Funds for the scholarship are provided by James Ansin, president and station manager for WSVN – Channel 7 and Peace Sullivan, a philanthropist and a retired journalist and psychoanalyst. Workshop sponsors include the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund, the St. Petersburg Times and the University of Miami.

The Peace Sullivan/James Ansin High School Workshop in Journalism and New Media has been going on for 26 years and accepts student from the tri-county area. Check out this year’s Miami Montage project.

For more information about the workshop, contact Yves Colon at 305-284-3752 or .

Contact Information:
Melissa Rubi-Falcón
(305) 284-6748

Courtnae Sawyers
(305) 967-1581