Students, faculty and journalists from across the nation took part in the first part of a four-day conference at the UA highlighting immigration and reporting issues.
A UCLA professor and a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist were the first presenters in the Learning Institute for Working Journalist’s “”Reporting on Immigration”” conference.
“”What this program is about is to get out of the newsroom and talk about immigration as an issue that deserves a lot of attention,”” said Olga Briseno, director of the Media, Democracy and Policy Institute, which is associated with the College of Humanities.
The MDPI invited 10 journalists from across the country to take part in the conference as a part of professional training, Briseno said.
The public is invited to attend the upcoming events, which will feature legislators, foreign officials and authors speaking about the immigration debate.
UCLA professor Otto Santa Ana spoke last night to a group of about 70 concerning the use of metaphors in mass media.
“”We don’t see the world, we see images of our world,”” Santa Ana said.
While researching the Los Angeles Times in 1994, Santa Ana said he saw two prevalent metaphors used in immigration stories: immigrants as animals and immigrants as dangerous waters.
“”Citizens are contrasted to immigrants as humans are contrasted to animals,”” Santa Ana said. “”This is stone racism.””
Santa Ana said mass media needs to be wary of how it words controversial topics so readers can perceive issues fairly.
Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist Don Bartletti spoke about his award-winning photo essay, “”Enrique’s Journey,”” which chronicled a young boy’s train ride from Honduras to North Carolina. While not traveling with Enrique himself, Bartletti followed the boy’s path by riding the same route on top of a train, the same way many immigrants do.
Bartletti shared his pictures and his experiences with the audience.
“”I tried to show immigration is never simple, it’s not clean,”” Bartletti said. “”It’s not like ‘Oh, I’m going to go and make a lot of money and send it back.'””
Bartletti said it was difficult to see what these people were going through and not lend them a hand for the sake of impartiality.
“”The hardest part was not being able to help anybody,”” Bartletti said. “”It’s not for me to solve their problems, it’s for me to illuminate their problems.””
Adam Saytanides, one of the 10 journalists invited to the conference, enjoyed Bartletti’s presentation because it showed how much photojournalists go through to get their stories.Saytanides, a producer for National Public Radio’s “”Latino USA”” in Austin, Texas, said the main interest in border issues for people in his line of work is what people go through to get around the law.
“”That becomes the engine of the vehicle that drives all of this,”” Saytanides said.
Dominique Calza, a Mexican-American studies graduate student, said the conference is important because it allows journalists in the nation to see firsthand how immigration affects the area.
“”It’s great they brought journalists from all over and have them see what (immigration’s) effect is on people.””
Calza said she was pleased with how the first event of the conference went.
“”I think it’s perfect timing with everything we’ve seen on immigration,”” she said. “”I think it’s on the right track.””
Five events in the program will be open to the public. More information can be found at www.coh.arizona.edu or by calling the MDPI office at 626-3731.