“Liberty City Link” dissolves barriers in diverse communities

Journalism students make Liberty City their beat

When 17 students in a School of Journalism and Mass Communication reporting class learned they would spend the spring semester covering Miami’s troubled Liberty City neighborhood, some were excited. Others were just plain scared.

Reflecting on their time writing for the newly-created “Liberty City Link,” many called the experience life-changing.

The class was “one of the best experiences so far in my college career,” says senior Alexandra Martinez.

“Liberty City Link” began as a pilot project in professor Neil Reisner’s Print News Reporting class aimed at letting students learn how to report on the streets in a place where they might not ordinarily go or feel comfortable.

It quickly morphed into a partnership with the South Florida Times, a weekly paper serving South Florida’s African-American and Caribbean communities, which devotes a full page to stories students write for what they now call “The Link.” The project demonstrates how journalism can empower residents while equipping students with the skills needed to accurately cover a diverse community.

With the exception of Reisner’s guidance and editorial support, “The Link” is staffed entirely by SJMC undergrads. The mostly Hispanic students in the class say it taught them how to find stories and report and write them on their own.

“Each class is structured as a budget meeting, so we can discuss our stories, pitch new ideas and do in-class editing, which helps us all sharpen our writing skills,” says Martinez.

Robert Beatty, publisher and owner of the Times, says that one of the exciting aspects of “Liberty City Link” is that it exposes students to, “hard-core journalism, real life journalism in the real world.”

In fact, the initial class of “Link” reporters found the work so gratifying that many are staying on through the summer as South Florida Times interns who will continue to contribute stories and work with students enrolled in Reisner’s reporting class this summer.

But the excitement doesn’t end with the students.

Mark Fitzgerald, editor-in-chief of Editor & Publisher magazine, referred to the partnership as a “liberating experience” for the young journalists.

Fitzgerald wrote about “Liberty City Link” in the magazine’s April issue, highlighting the positive impact it has on the community and its residents, many of whom feel marginalized by mainstream media.

Says Spring 2010 SJMC graduate Jenine Abdeljaber, “Now that I’m graduating, I feel more prepared than ever before since I’ve had this hands-on experience. Reporting for an underrepresented neighborhood only made the experience better because there were many stories we dug up that no mainstream media got to. The people in Liberty City were great to speak and work with.”

And students in the inaugural class want the pilot project to become permanent.

“We are all very proud of our work and effort, and we want this project to be a long-term institution for both the SJMC and the South Florida Times,” says Martinez.