As a master’s degree candidate at New York University (NYU)
and as an intern with El Diario/La Prensa, one of the oldest
Spanish-language newspapers in the United States, OAS
grantee Néfer Muñoz is thrilled to be working and studying
in New York City.
“New York is a cultural, political, and social hub,” he says.
“Modern journalism was born here. In the nineteenth century,
New York newsmen like James Gordon Bennett, Benjamin
Day, Charles Dana, and Horace Greeley invented a new profession:
the reporter. That’s why I am so glad to be studying
here, in the same city where famous journalists such as Joseph
Pulitzer, Jacob Riis, and Lincoln Stephens changed the meaning
of information. I have learned a lot in classrooms and libraries
but also walking in the streets—the same streets that
were once the home of Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, and John
Dos Passos.”
During his internship with the metropolitan section of El
Diario/La Prensa, Muñoz worked with colleagues from all over
Latin America to research and compile news stories, as well as
writing several stories of his own. He attended and reported
on a reception at New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s
house announcing the Athens 2004 Olympic Torch Relay
through the five boroughs of New York and interviewed Latino
torchbearers for the story. Additionally, his article about
the city government assisting a disabled Puerto Rican man to
find adequate housing was published on the front page of the
paper.
Muñoz, who is from Costa Rica, has worked as a journalist
for almost a decade, including serving as a correspondent with
the Inter Press Service, a global news agency with a focus on
developing nations. He will receive his master’s degree in journalism
and Latin American studies from NYU in 2005.
|
