R-J teams up with Hispanic journalists association
The Review-Journal and the Nevada chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists have teamed up to bring three new summer reporting interns to the state’s largest newspaper.
All three are fluent in Spanish.
“I’m really impressed with them, not only their qualifications, but their eagerness,” said Michael Hengel, the newspaper’s editor.
The three interns will work as reporters in the R-J’s newsroom. Their time will include stints in the local news, business, sports and features departments, as well as the newspaper’s online department and Spanish-language weekly El Tiempo.
“The R-J was so enthusiastic about doing it,” said Michelle Rindels, the local NAHJ chapter president and an Associated Press reporter who covers breaking news in Nevada and Utah.
She said the NAHJ chapter is covering about one-third of the costs of the interns, while the newspaper is picking up the rest.
She said the goal is to increase diversity in the state’s newsrooms. It made sense, she said, to engage the state’s largest news source.
Clark County’s Hispanic population is growing, reaching nearly 30 percent in the latest figures from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Hengel said he was initially approached about the R-J supporting one intern from the organization. He loved the idea, he said.
He said, however, that when he saw the qualifications of the three applications the NAHJ provided, it quickly became apparent that all three should be given a position.
The interns are Yvette Cruz, a native of Provo, Utah, and a master’s degree candidate in journalism-public affairs at Colombia College in Chicago; Sandy Lopez, of Monrovia, Calif., who graduated in May from San Francisco State University, where she majored in journalism and Latino/Latina studies; and Eric Uribe, an Elko native and journalism major at the University of Nevada, Reno, expecting to graduate in 2015.
Bob Brown, the R-J’s publisher, said he is always looking to increase the diversity of the staff. He said the fact that the interns are from a generation that seems to instinctively understand digital media is a plus.
“It’s a whole new world,” he said.
The paper has revamped its website and launched other digital media efforts in recent months.
Brown noted that many news stories in Las Vegas originate with the R-J and are then picked up by other media outlets, whether or not news consumers realize that.
In addition, the newspaper also has two other reporting interns on the staff. They are Melissah Yang, a Los Angeles native working on a master’s degree in journalism/digital media at the University of Southern California, and Rochel Leah Goldblatt, a Las Vegas native and recent UNLV journalism graduate.
The R-J has also formed a relationship with UNLV’s journalism department, establishing year-round internships. Four current or recent UNLV students are working part time in the newsroom: Steven Slivka, Caitlyn Belcher, Annalise Porter and Colton Lochhead.
The photo department has one intern, UNLV psychology major Chase Stevens; the business department has one, Corey Hewett, an accounting major at UNR; and the advertising department has three: Matt Smith, a UNLV marketing major; Sara Eggers, a communications major at Brigham Young University, Idaho; and Erin Perretti, a Centennial High School graduate and advertising major at Penn State University.
Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.
