Latest Updates: FIU Presidential Search | Healthy Living | Statement of Free Expression
Homebfriedmn2023-11-20T15:23:31+00:00
4 + 1 Degree Pathway for FIU’s Undergraduate Students
Spanish-language Journalism
Master Two Worlds of Media
Journalism is changing at an incredible speed. Innovation is constantly disrupting the news media landscape. The Spanish-language Journalism Master’s program (SLJ) offers a curriculum that emphasizes career-readiness and convergence of current genres, formats, technologies and platforms. This first of its kind program is tailored for students who want to build their cultural knowledge and tell relevant and hidden stories of diverse communities in their own language.
With two specializations (Spanish-language Journalism & Multimedia and Spanish-language Journalism in Latin American & Caribbean Studies) this bilingual master’s program is designed for aspiring and experienced journalists who want to work at the professional level in Spanish-language media in the U.S., Latin America, or Europe.
The focus of the program is on the development of the writing, critical thinking, analytical, investigative, ethical, and technological skills necessary for a professional career in journalism.
Our graduates include Emmy winners, CNN en Español anchors, digital media directors, and winners of prestigious awards such as the Pulitzer, the Hearst National Championship, and the Sunshine State Awards.
A Curriculum That Works With You
Courses are taught in Spanish, but bilingual students can present their projects and assignments in English. The number of students in class is small: between 10 and 20 students per class, allowing a very strong interaction with the professor and with his or her colleagues. In its majority, the courses are offered as workshops, to develop journalistic skills, from investigative journalism skills to the use of new formats, narratives, and technologies. We offer courses on campus, hybrids, and online. From the beginning of the program, we motivate our students to write or produce relevant news stories for Caplin News en Español or through internships in Hispanic local and national media, or in our news bureaus in Miami and Washington D.C. In partnership with Univision, our School developed the training and employment program STEP, where the selected students receive lectures, workshops, and job opportunities at Univision.
4 + 1 Degree Pathway for FIU’s Undergraduate Students
The 4+1 pathway is designed for highly motivated students who want to begin their graduate degree in Spanish-language Journalism (SLJ) while still completing their bachelor’s degree. Students who are focused on their career paths and want to get a head start in the competitive communications world are the best candidates for this program.
Lear more on how to apply to the 4+1 program here.
Learn more about the requirements, application deadlines, costs, and protocols, in the Student Handbook.
Meet Your Professors
Alejandro Alvarado Bremer, Ph.D. | Associate Professor and Director of the Spanish-Language Journalism Master’s Program
Email: jalvarad@fiu.edu
@alvaradobremer
Program Director and Associate Professor. Dr. Alvarado is an Associate Professor of Journalism and Communication, and the Spanish-language editor of Caplin News en Español. Dr. Alvarado is a fellow of the Scripps-Howard Journalism Entrepreneurship Institute, and a trained educator at the Solutions Journalism Educators Academy. Prof. Alvarado teaches several courses at graduate and undergraduate level, including Social Media for Communicators; Social Media Analytics; Applied Research Methods; Media Management and Entrepreneurship, among others. An Emmy award-winning TV writer and published author, he served as business news anchor, reporter and producer at CBS Telenoticias and later was editor in chief for ZDNet Latin America, as well as producer and copy editor at Univision. Dr. Alvarado is co-founder of the Association of Latino Media, Markets and Communications Research, and member of the board of directors at SembraMedia, the largest network of native digital media in Latin America.
Dr. Alvarado holds a Ph.D. and a Master’s on International Studies from the University of Miami, and a bachelors in Political Science and Public Administration from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
Leonardo Ferreira, Ph.D. | Professor
Email: leferrei@fiu.edu
Leonardo Ferreira, Ph.D. teaches Ethics and Social Responsibility. He is the former director of the Andean Studies Program of the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center at Florida International University (FIU). A mass media Ph.D. graduate of Michigan State University with a J.D. degree from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia Law School, Professor Ferreira is a specialist in the study of comparative media law and ethics in the Americas and Latin American communication history, including ethnic and community reporting. A Martin Luther King Jr.-César Chávez-Rosa Parks Doctoral Fellow in Michigan, Ferreira has been consultant to Freedom House and the Grupo de Diarios América (GDA). He has also worked in projects with the U.S. Department of State, UNESCO, UNICEF, the Organization of American States (OAS), the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), Fleishman-Hillard, and the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), among others. Ferreira has participated in various Latino/Latin American news shows, including BBC Mundo and CNN en Español. Ferreira has published works in Anglo and Latin American academic journals and encyclopedias.
Lilliam Martinez Bustos MS | Assistant Professor and Internship Coordinator
Email: lmartin@fiu.edu
Lilliam Martínez-Bustos is an Assistant Professor and Faculty Coordinator of the Internship & Career program in the Department of Journalism and Media.
She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in broadcast journalism. She also teaches media courses in the SCJ study abroad program in Seville, Spain. Her research interests include trends in multimedia and Spanish-language news coverage of Latin America, immigration and other issues affecting the fast-growing Latino community in the United States. She has co-authored several journal articles and book chapters with colleague Mercedes Vigón on topics ranging from news coverage of the immigration crisis in the United States to coverage of political and environmental issues in Latin American media.
Before joining FIU in the fall of 2007, she spent over two decades as a broadcast journalist in English-language and Spanish-language television. She worked as a producer in the Washington bureaus of the NBC-Telemundo and Univision networks. She’s also worked at local affiliates of PBS, CBS and ABC in Boston. In Miami, she was an executive producer with CBS-Telenoticias network.
She earned a B.A. from the University of Puerto Rico and a M.A. from the University of Southern California. At USC, she was one of 10 journalists selected nationwide for a year-long fellowship at the school’s Center for International Journalism.
Mercedes Vigon | Associate Professor
Email: vigonm@fiu.edu
Mercedes Vigon, Ph.D., is associate director of the International Media Center and associate professor in the School of Communication and Journalism. She is a native of Spain and trained journalists in Mexico, Nicaragua and Paraguay. She also worked as a TV news director for Net Financial News. Vigon was an executive producer and international writer for CBS Telenoticias and a journalist with UPI. She is fluent in Spanish, French and English.
Laura Kurtzberg | Assistant Professor
Email: lkurtzbe@fiu.edu
Laura Kurtzberg is an assistant professor at Florida International University, a Data Analyst with the Pulitzer Center, and the data visualization lead for Ambiental Media, where she has worked on projects to map and visualize the Amazon rainforest. She is passionate about pursuing projects at the intersection of data journalism, cartography, and design. She earned her MFA in Interactive Media from the University of Miami. Laura also holds a BA in Information Science from the University of Arizona.
Juan Jesús González Manrique, PhD | Adjunct Professor
Juan Jesús González Manrique, Ph.D., teaches Visual Storytelling and Production I. He’s a journalist and communication consultant. His professional career as a journalist has been developed on radio and television. On television he has worked as a writer, graphic editor, reporter, producer, correspondent, special envoy or presenter. He also has experience in managing human teams in audiovisual media and in the creation of television formats. As a consultant, he directs courses on presence in audiovisual media, voice over and radio initiation and preparation of news programs on television.
Damià Bonmatí, MS | Adjunct Professor
Email: damia.sanchezbonmati@fiu.edu
Damià Bonmatí is a national correspondent for Telemundo News based in Miami. He is focused on investigative and immigration stories, and he produces both broadcast and digital reports. In the past, he worked for AJ+, Univision Network, and Agencia EFE, among others. Bonmatí graduated from Columbia University, with a master’s in business journalism, and he currently teaches a course in digital visual storytelling at Florida International University. His work has been recognized with awards such as RFK Human Rights Journalism, the National Emmy, the Ortega and Gasset Award, the National Headliner Award, and Sigma Delta Award, among others. He’s been an active member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), where he’s been a member of the National Board and the South Florida Board.
Mariana Alvarado, MS | Professor
Email: malvara@fiu.edu
Damià Bonmatí is a national correspondent for Telemundo News based in Miami. He is focused on investigative and immigration stories, and he produces both broadcast and digital reports. In the past, he worked for AJ+, Univision Network, and Agencia EFE, among others. Bonmatí graduated from Columbia University, with a master’s in business journalism, and he currently teaches a course in digital visual storytelling at Florida International University. His work has been recognized with awards such as RFK Human Rights Journalism, the National Emmy, the Ortega and Gasset Award, the National Headliner Award, and Sigma Delta Award, among others. He’s been an active member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), where he’s been a member of the National Board and the South Florida Board.