The third round of the international diploma course in Investigative Journalism concludes
SANTO DOMINGO. The Embassy of the United States in the Dominican Republic and Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC) concluded the third round of the international diploma in investigative journalism, in which they participated 60 professionals y social communication and journalism term students from different universities in the country.
In the act, Armando Barrios, Vice Chancellor of Research and Liaison from INTEC, thanked the United States Embassy in Santo Domingo for supporting the university in projects of great importance, generating social fabric and strengthening Dominican democracy.
He pointed out that the course, which lasts 60 hours and is taught by leading journalists from the Dominican Republic and the United States, encourages investigative journalism and validates the conception of the fourth estate that has been granted to the press.
Likewise, gabriel hurst, press attaché for the Embassy of the United States in the Dominican Republic, he valued the work carried out by the press in the exercise of democracy and the development of a country.
"Above all independent journalism, the one that informs us, the one that seeks answers and mobilizes, inspires and creates changes in society," said the diplomat, while pointing out that free and independent media allow the audience to make informed decisions. cause; they demand responses from leaders and managers and allow the dissemination of a diversity of opinions and points of view.
On his side, the journalist Rosa Alcantara, undergraduate coordinator Social Communication and Digital Media, as well as the diploma, valued the production of research work carried out during the three rounds that have brought to the forefront issues of such importance as the Domain Forfeiture Law, Sustainable Development Goals, migration, electricity and transportation systems, among others.
"We are facing a diploma that shows that with resources and training, investigative journalism can generate social impact and the changes that our society requires," said Alcántara.
He stressed that with the three rounds of the diploma, they add up to more than 150 journalists, teachers y social communication and journalism students from different universities and different locations in the country that benefit from this training program, thanks to the sponsorship of the Embassy of the United States in Santo Domingo.
Such has been the success of the diploma course that the Embassy of the United States and INTEC announced that a fourth round of the training program will be opened.
Speaking on behalf of all the participants in the third round of the training programme, the journalist Raysa Happy indicated that media have undergone a vertiginous and profound process of cultural, in the last decade with the use of smart phones and social media that has turned each user into a communicator.
He regretted that, due to this fact, many media outlets have reduced their staff of journalists, which has generated an increase in the productive load of the journalists who remain in the newsrooms and has directly influenced a decrease in investigative reports and investigative work. depth.
The diploma course, which was carried out through the Social Communication and Digital Media career of the Social Sciences and Humanities Area of INTEC and the Directorate of Permanent Education, has a teaching body from the United States and the Dominican Republic.
In a total of 60 hours, prominent journalism professors and renowned journalists from the Dominican Republic and the United States transferred their knowledge. The course began on September 27 with the keynote speech: "Innovation in Journalistic Investigation", by the American expert in virtual reality and immersive journalism, Professor Robert Hernández, from the University of Southern California.
The purpose of this training is to provide journalists with the knowledge and tools to use and manage multiple platforms, communication channels and information sources offered by technology. Journalists from the different media participate, as well as journalism teachers and students from different universities in the country.
The Diploma in Investigative Journalism was taught online through the university's MOODLE platform and videoconferences. For the virtual adaptation of the courses of this diploma, the ADDIE model and its five components will be used: analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation.
The closing event of the diploma course was attended by INTEC's Vice Chancellor for Research and Linkage, Armando Barrios, as well as teachers Esmerarda Montero, Santiago Gallur and Violeta Lockhart.
INTEC hand in hand with Dominican journalism
In addition to the diploma, INTEC offers a degree in Communication and Digital Media, from which its first class has already graduated and from August 2022 it begins the master's degree in Digital Communication Sciences, a program in which journalists will be able to acquire knowledge about the new formats of journalism, the management of social networks and data journalism, which will impact the way in which they will carry out their work both in the media and at the corporate level.
Another of INTEC's bets to impact the training of social communicators will be the international doctorate in communication and education in virtual environments, which will have a double degree with the National Distance Education University of Spain (UNED).