HORIZONS WITH LATIN AMERICAN FORUM

By Alex Avila

The California State University, Dominguez Hills Communications Department held a virtual forum on Nov 12, 2021, focusing on international journalism and the role of international journalism in news media.

CSUDH professors Dr. Ana de la Serna and Dr. Fernando Severino held the event with the keynote speaker Dr. Giovanna Dell’Orto, an expert on international journalism, as well as Dr. Tabita Moreno, a professor from the Universidad de Concepción (University of Concepción), a private university from Concepción, Chile.

The hybrid event was presented virtually and in-person to CSUDH journalism and communication majors, along with students from the Universidad de Concepción.

Dr. Severino started the presentation by discussing how the cross-national journalism event came to be by thanking Dr. Moreno.

“She was very excited to create this connection between two journalism programs, and between Los Angeles and South Concepción,” Dr. Severino said.

Dr. de la Serna also took the initiative to apply for the grant to create the possibility of the U.S.Chile Cross-National Journalism Training and Teaching event. The grant was provided by the U.S. State Department through the Embassy of the United States in Chile. “They were offering to support programs between institutions in Chile and the U.S…One of the programs they were supporting was journalism,” Dr. de la Serna said. A part of the grant was the U.S. Embassy in Chile wanted to support an institution that wasn’t in the capital of Chile.

Dr. Severino was acquainted with Dr. Moreno, who expressed interest in working on a collaborative project with Dr. Severino and Dr. de la Serna, and being awarded the U.S. State Department grant was the perfect opportunity.

“It was really exciting,” Dr. de la Serna said. “We put together the conference where we invited Dr. Giovanna Dell’Orto, a specialist on international reporting.”

The key speaker, Dr. Dell’Orto, is an Associate Professor at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota whose research focuses on international news and affairs. Dell’Orto, an immigrant who was born in Italy, also served as Ph.D. advisor to Dr. Severino while he was in graduate school at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

“There is no better person to be talking about international journalism and teaching a new generation of journalists,” Dr. Severino explained about her role as the keynote speaker. “She’s honest about international media and has several years of experience at the Associated Press.”

Dell’Orto has also written several published books about refugee news and refugee politics, including her 2013 book, “Reporting at the Southern Borders: Journalism and Public Debates On Immigration in the U.S. and E.U.”

The cross-national event was intended to highlight and discuss the “whys and hows of international journalism, which is to find and tell the truth, especially where it’s kept dark by censorship, propaganda, and violence, as well as to give voice to those who would be otherwise unheard.” Also explained were the challenges and rewards of international journalism.

Dr. Dell’Orto also described her experiences with international reporting, such as notable events during her time covering Guatemala and Mexico. Her story focused largely on the reasons why large numbers of women and children started fleeing Central America in the mid-2010s.

Dr. Dell’Orto illustrated her experiences through photos and detailed explanations, as well as by discussing the positives of being able to understand the lives of refugees from Guatemala and Mexico.

Dr. Dell’Orto has done work around the world, including in countries such as Syria, where she wrote a story about refugee teenagers who are seeking education and immigrating to Jordan.

During the hybrid forum, Dell’Orto explained that it can be difficult as a reporter to balance her compassion and empathy with her obligation as a journalist to be objective. “Feelings get involved, you have a sense of what’s fair and unfair… [but] you do this because you think it’s important,” Dr. Dell’Orto said. “It can really take it out of you, if you’re moving people to help or even just to be more conscious, then you have already done something.”

The event continued with a Q&A from the audience in both English and Spanish about Dr. Dell’Orto’s stories and experiences she’s had while writing these stories. There was also extensive discussion about the lives and livelihoods of the people she’s encountered during her work as a international journalist.

Further discussions between the professors and Dr. Dell’Orto led her to express how those are not the only stories that they can cover, and how it important it is to document stories involving immigrants who have already immigrated to a new country. “Crossing the border isn’t enough, then you cross all the borders of integrating to whichever community you’ve arrived in,” Dr. Dell’Orto explained. “What is life like for migrants once they make it passed the border?”

In the end, Dr. Severino thanked Dr. Dell’Orto for her speech and highlighted the importance of teaching a new generation of journalists. “It’s very inspiring, it’s great for them to be exposed to this, to make you engaged in a meaningful way,” Dr. Severino said.

“I hope this was helpful,” Dr. Dell’Orto concluded her discussion with the students and professors of CSUDH and Universidad de Concepción. “I’m excited by the potential of your collaboration.”

This year’s World Press Freedom Day event, sponsored by the Society of Independent Student Journalists and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, featured several professional journalists in a remote panel moderated by Dr. Brant Burkey and showcased the “News Equity” projects by the HFPA Fellows, four graduating Journalism seniors: Brenda Verano, Mary McFadden, Lloyd Bravo, and Nova Blanco-Rico.