| SJMC and Miami Herald team up for HIV/AIDS reality Webisode series |
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The School of Journalism and Mass Communication and The Miami Herald are teaming up to boost reporting devoted to HIV/AIDS by announcing the creation of an innovative multimedia project to educate the community about the impact of HIV/AIDS on South Florida, which has among the highest rates of infection in the United States. FIU’s journalism students are writing and producing a dramatic reality Web series focusing on a Miami resident struggling with HIV/AIDS. Karen Burkett, multimedia manager of The Miami Herald, said, “Recent reporting on HIV/AIDS indicates that the rates of infection in South Florida are higher than were previously reported. We at The Herald want to help shine a light on the new truth and get the word out. By working with FIU’s SJMC, which is a think tank for new ideas, we will be working with young journalists and reaching their peers.”Kate MacMillin, instructor in the SJMC and a veteran TV producer, will work alongside Allan Richards, interim associate dean, to showcase the school’s brightest talents, many of whom already have extensive experience reporting on the disease. One student producer recently reported from the World AIDS Conference for MTV-Latin America and another went on a FIU-sponsored backpack journalism expedition to South Africa and reported on the pandemic this past spring. “Our students are honored to work on such a significant campaign,” said MacMillin. “They are the ones who are largely affected by the disease – directly or indirectly - on a day-to-day basis, so they’re humbled to be able to do something about it through the use of their talents.” Richards added, “When everyone knows someone who has HIV/AIDS, as seems to be the case in South Florida, I think we in journalism and journalism education have a responsibility to the community to help raise awareness of the epidemic. We are thrilled to be working with The Herald on this campaign.”
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