Date: Oct 05, 2011

Viva Communication!

Hofstra hosts effort to boost local Latino media; reporter Juan Gonzalez is keynote speaker

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY …Continuing the successful collaboration that began last year between local print and web journalists, community members and the School of Communication faculty, Hofstra University will host the second annual Latino Media Conference on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011 to further explore  the challenges faced by local media as they serve a growing Latino community on Long Island.    

The free, all-day conference aims to examine media representation, the role of civic journalism in fostering community engagement and ways to improve the economic sustainability of local Latino media.  Among the highlights is a keynote address by two-time Polk Award winner  Juan Gonzalez, a columnist for the NY Daily News and co-host of Democracy Now, who will also discuss his upcoming book, News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media. 

In addition, an opening plenary will feature journalists and community activists pivotal to the ongoing discussion, including the publishers of Noticia, La Tribuna Hispana and QueensLatino.com, as well as the executive director of the Workplace Project, a community organization that fights against exploitation of Latino immigrant workers on Long Island.  

“Last year, many Latino reporters and editors received hands-on training in skills such as social media, digital editing and streaming video.  This year, the conference is focused more on how the Latin media, the community and Hofstra can work together to address the serious issues affecting Latinos, a population that has grown by 50 percent on Long Island over the last ten years,” said Javier Castano, an adjunct professor of journalism at Hofstra University and founder of QueensLatino.com. 

Members of the media as well as business owners, residents, students, activists and community leaders are encouraged to attend the event, which will include workshops on digital news, radio and community reporting collaborations, video action projects, and the use of social media in community outreach.

“Our goal is to foster greater cooperation and collaboration between Hofstra and local Latino media, and to assist the participants in the conference in sharing experiences, examining best practices, and searching for successful models for sustaining local journalism,” said Evan W. Cornog, Ph.D., Dean of Hofstra’s School of Communication.   “We support an ongoing agenda for building the quality and influence of the Spanish-language media on Long Island.” 

Presented in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, the conference is open to the public; program details can be found at www.hofstra.edu/LMCprogram.    For more information, contact Mario A. Murillo, co-director of the Latino Media Conference and chair of Hofstra’s Radio, Television, Film Department, at 516-463-6062 or avfmam@hofstra.edu.

“Latino Media Conference II: Innovative Communication Within and Across Communities” is presented by the School of Communication in cooperation with the Hofstra Culture Center, the Latin and Caribbean Studies Program, the Center for Civic Engagement, and the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University, and is supported in part by the Tribune New York Foundation.

Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution where students can choose from more than 150 undergraduate and 160 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, business, communication, education and allied health services and honor studies, as well as a School of Law and the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine.

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