April 2008

New online course shows how to cover Latino community

The TPA Online Academy through the University of Texas at Austin School of Journalism is offering the first-ever “Covering the Latino Community” writing course May 5-30.

The course will teach working journalists how to "audit" their local Hispanic population, why that is important and what kind of stories can result from developing a better sense of their identities, both as Hispanics and as Texans.

Students will learn the need for — and methods of — incorporating the voices and views of their communities' Hispanics into reporting routines.

The course will help reporters develop, gather and use electronic and other resources that will assist in gathering the necessary tools to better understand the perspectives of Hispanics and their role in the community. That will help the students produce more balanced and
comprehensive news stories.

The course will allow reporters to use the techniques learned to cover other minority communities.

The course will be taught by Guillermo X. Garcia, currently city government/politics reporter for The San Antonio Express-News. Garcia is the former Southwest bureau chief for USA TODAY, served as the Mexico City-based Latin American bureau chief for Cox Newspapers and Latin American correspondent for the Orange County Register. He also reported for newspapers including the Austin American-Statesman and Dallas Times Herald.

The course format is the same as other TPA online courses. Students can log on 24/7 during the course period but must complete assignments and quizzes within a certain timeframe.

Students generally need to devote four to five hours per week to complete the coursework and assignments. The course also includes a chat feature for students to comment and participate in discussions about the material and real life examples.

Tuition is free but students must complete the entire course. The publisher must sign the registration form to ensure that the student will complete the course.

Enrollment is limited to TPA members and available to the first 20 eligible applicants.