September 17, 2007

University of Miami School of Communication and Dominican Republic Announce Joint Programs in New Media Journalism

Presidential treatment: School of Communication Dean Sam L Grogg, left, leads Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernández on a tour of the school’s facilities. President Fernández visited the school on Monday to launch a new joint multimedia initiative in his country. Later that day, he was honored by UM’s Center for Hemispheric Policy at a special reception held at the Hyatt Regency Coral Gables.

Coral Gables, FL (September 17, 2007) - President Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Republic and Dean Sam L Grogg of the University of Miami School of Communication announced today a plan to join efforts to develop multimedia journalistic expertise and research in rural and marginal urban areas of the country.

“This program [with the University of Miami] will be very important.  Actually we have various projects in mind, but the one we are launching today is a training program for journalists in rural areas.  These journalists will be working as part our new Community Technology Centers (CTC’s),” stated President Fernández. 

Dean Grogg welcomed the relationship “as clearly an opportunity to share with one another expertise and knowledge that will insure the ongoing development of a free and technologically advanced press throughout our hemisphere.”

A network of 135 Community Technology Centers, under the leadership of Dr. Margarita Cedeño de Fernández, First Lady of the Dominican Republic, will support this joint multimedia project.  The primary goal will be to foster social development and involvement of disadvantaged communities through innovative practices of information gathering, multimedia production, and news reporting.

Dr. Leonardo Ferreira, Associate Dean and Director of Graduate Studies in the School of Communication, summarized the plan’s purpose: “To strengthen a community-oriented and participatory journalistic model that is built upon effective, autonomous, and democratic exchanges of economic, health, governmental, and cultural news and information.”

To commence the initiative, The Knight Center for International Media at the School of Communication will host a visiting scholar and/or professional from the Dominican Republic this academic year. The government of the Dominican Republic will identify and sponsor an expert specialized in rural and marginal community-based journalism and mass communication.  This individual will work with members of the School of Communication faculty to develop both a plan and a multimedia presentation that will explain and advance the project. 

For more information, please contact the Office of Media Relations at

(305) 284-5500.

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The University of Miami School of Communication seeks to prepare analytical and responsible communication professionals for success in a global society.  The School offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in journalism, broadcasting, advertising, public relations, visual journalism, communication studies and motion pictures, with a total current enrollment of approximately 1500 students and 60 full-time faculty members. 

The Knight Center for International Media is dedicated to excellence in contemporary communication and journalism practice. The Center integrates its scholastic and creative energies in the service of communication and journalism. Communication professionals, journalists, researchers, media makers, technologists, artists and scholars collaborate at the Center to develop new media models and methods for empowering future leaders of the field.

Media Contact:
Barbara Gutierrez
(305) 284-3205
bgutierrez@miami.edu