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Interactive Media

Are Automated Software Applications Efficient or Malicious Malware?

Two technology experts with the University of Miami explain the origins of “bots” and their role on the internet today. By: Janette Neuwahl Tannen Bots. They’ve been blamed for influencing public opinion during recent elections or simply annoying users who are scrolling through their chosen social media feed. So, what are they? University of Miami computer scientist Ching-Hua Chuan, a research associate professor in the School of Communication’s Interactive Media Department, said bots are simply software programs designed to complete a specific task. Some of the first bots were web [...]

2020-07-06T15:21:09-04:00July 6, 2020|Interactive Media|
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Knight Chairs Pen Open Letter Regarding Arrests & Violence Directed at Journalists During Protests Demanding Racial Justice

Twenty-three Knight Chairs from across the country, including two from the University of Miami School of Communication, penned an open letter bringing attention to violence directed at journalists covering the protests against police brutality. Alberto Cairo, Knight Chair in Visual Journalism, and Lindsay Grace, Knight Chair in Interactive Media, both signed the letter condemning the attacks on members of the press. Below is the letter in its entirety. AN OPEN LETTER REGARDING ARRESTS AND VIOLENCE DIRECTED AT JOURNALISTS DURING PROTESTS DEMANDING RACIAL JUSTICE In recent weeks, the latest killings of [...]

2020-06-18T18:11:25-04:00June 18, 2020|Interactive Media, Journalism, School of Communication|
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Cinematic Voyage Across the Globe’s Oceans Captivates and Educates

By: Kelly Montoya The Ocean Health Voyage, an online educational platform produced by a University of Miami professor and award-winning filmmaker, is now offered to members of the Hemispheric University Consortium. For two years, Ali Habashi, an award-winning filmmaker and assistant professor at the University of Miami School of Communication, set off to meet with 10 world-renowned marine biologists in 10 remote locations around the globe in order to unearth stories about the health of the world’s oceans. Even as Habashi moved from country to country, through thrilling helicopter rides [...]

2020-05-04T12:09:13-04:00May 4, 2020|Interactive Media, Motion Pictures, School of Communication|
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Joining Forces to Give Back: SoC Graduate Student And Professor Make Masks And Face Shields For Frontline Workers

By: Isabella Vaccaro It all began with Lorena Lopez, a UM graduate student pursuing an M.F.A. in Interactive Media, and some leftover materials she had laying around her home. Lopez, a long-time seamstress and costume designer, said after a few days in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic, she noticed a dire need for masks around the world and various groups coming together to make them. “If people are requesting them, and I can make them, there’s no reason for me not to, especially if I have all the materials at [...]

2020-04-22T12:19:10-04:00April 22, 2020|Interactive Media, School of Communication|
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Student Productions Win Big at National Media Competition

By: Sabrina Pizziol University of Miami students took the nation by storm at the 57th Annual National Undergraduate Student Electronic Media Competition, receiving several nominations and taking home eight awards. UMTV’s Spanish-language news show, UniMiami, was recognized as the Best Video Newscast (Prerecorded) making it the first award the program has won. “It was definitely a long-time coming,” said Alexa Eckembrecher, one of the executive producers of UniMiami. “It would have never happened if it weren't for all the members that worked on this program before me and my co-EP, [...]

2020-04-21T12:41:12-04:00April 17, 2020|Broadcast Journalism, Electronic Media, Interactive Media, Journalism, Media Management, Motion Pictures, School of Communication|
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I.M. M.F.A. Students Win Data Viz Awards

By: Isabella Vaccaro University of Miami students Alyssa Fowers and Deb Pang are pursuing their M.F.A.s in Interactive Media, but have already begun making their marks in the data visualization world. Both Fowers and Pang were finalists in the Information is Beautiful Awards and won Computation + Journalism awards for some of their projects done here at UM. But, what is data visualization? And how did these award-winning projects even come to be? Alberto Cairo, associate professor of infographics, data visualization, and data journalism in the School of Communication, said [...]

2020-03-30T17:53:36-04:00March 30, 2020|Interactive Media, Journalism|
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UM Professor Wins Sigma Journalism Award

By: Jabria Roscoe Alberto Cairo, a world-renowned data journalist and associate professor, is the co-winner of a Sigma Journalism award for his work on the project Zones of Silence (ZOS). The project is a collaboration between Cairo, El Universal daily newspaper in Mexico, and the Google News Initiative. “It’s great news because the Sigma awards are quite prestigious,” said Cairo. “I feel happy not just for the award, but because the project and the work are being recognized.” The Sigma awards, formally known as the Data Journalism awards, is a [...]

2020-03-09T15:52:10-04:00March 9, 2020|Interactive Media, Journalism|
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Interactive Media Program Graduates to its Own Department

By: Barbara Gutierrez Fueled by changes in communication and storytelling, the School of Communication’s Interactive Media Program will become its own department this fall. A website that lists the political protests in the U.S. by state, topic, and frequency. A digital reporting system that tracks incidents in nursing homes to aid health care providers. A colorful website with illustrations and linear graphs that dissect the poems of feminist poet Anne Sexton by showing the frequent use of certain words and the positive or negative bent of each poem. All these [...]

2023-10-26T13:31:40-04:00February 19, 2020|Interactive Media|
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‘Healer’ Wins Best of Show at ICIDS

By: Karina Valdes Healer, a historical battle video game created by Lindsay Grace, Knight Chair of Interactive Media and associate professor, was awarded Best of Show at the art exhibit at the International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling (ICIDS). The game is a part of the games for change genre, where video game developers create games for social change. “I would do this work no matter what because it’s the right thing to do to help move the games for change medium forward and to help people. The recognition is [...]

2020-01-29T15:41:08-05:00December 4, 2019|Interactive Media|
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Games for Change Created by Students and Faculty

NERDLab at the University of Miami School of Communication is an incubator for projects that inspire and educate through innovation and fun. The last place one might expect to learn a life lesson or two from is a video game. But in the New Experience Research and Design Lab (NERDLab) at the University of Miami School of Communication, an accomplished pair of professors, Clay Ewing and Lien Tran, have been creating interactive social impact experiences including games that attempt to affect the learner’s perspective about a particular social issue. “Games [...]

October 31, 2019|Interactive Media|
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