GTAZ Welcomes Latin-American Investigative Journalism Delegation

Last month, Global Ties Arizona welcomed a Latin-American delegation for the Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists with a focus on Research and Investigation. The group of journalists hailed from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Venezuela and Uruguay.

The program began with a meeting at KTAZ-TV Channel 39 Telemundo Arizona where the group was welcomed by President & General Manager, Andrew Deschapelles. The group received a presentation on Telemundo’s plans for 2023 by Creative Services Director, Ossman Enrique Padilla. The presentation was followed by a Q&A session with Managing Editor and Executive Producer, Patricio Gutierrez. Afterwards, the group was taken on a tour of the station to explore its facilities.

Delegates then visited SPOT 127 Digital Media Center, a facility that teaches and mentors young people in key digital skills that are vital for success in today's information economy. Executive Director, Matt Myers and Jennifer Alvarez, SPOT 127 Alumna and Bilingual Reporter and Anchor for Happily News, welcomed the group with conversations that highlighted Jennifer’s experiences with SPOT 127’s mentoring program, transparency practices in American journalism, and the differences between SPOT 127’s mentor programming and traditional educational systems’ curriculums concerning digital media.

The group concluded their Phoenix programming with a visit to the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Their experience kicked off with a meet and greet session with the Humphrey Fellows, where the fellows shared their experiences at ASU, in Arizona, and in the United States. The group then met with Professor Sarah Cohen for a workshop that highlighted case studies of Investigative Journalism, followed by a discussion of the models and techniques that ASU uses and teaches, and how they compare/contrast to models from  visitors' countries and education. To wrap up their experience, Dean Rebecca Blatt took the delegates on a tour of the Cronkite school and newsroom.

Home Hospitality

The delegates were introduced to the daily lives of local Arizonans with home hospitality visits thanks to Chris and Trista Glover, and Ms. Sapna Gupta and family. The groups exchanged conversations over an in-house dinner, promoting the core of our mission: Citizen Diplomacy.