Bilingual Reporting

Course Description

COURSE OVERVIEW. Explores journalistic reporting in Spanish and bilingual media environments. Covers foundational practices in newsgathering, interviewing, writing and/or audio storytelling conducted in both English and Spanish. Examines how bilingual journalists adapt style, tone and/or sourcing when communicating across cultural and linguistic audiences. Considers the distinct histories, media infrastructures and representational challenges associated with Latino/a and Spanish-language communities in the United States and around the globe. Coursework may include projects based on real-world local, national and/or international cases involving cultural identity, migration and/or public affairs. Spanish proficiency required. RELEVANCE AND APPLICATION. Builds practical readiness for reporting roles in Spanish-language and bilingual media, as well as careers in public communication, community outreach, translation, podcasting and global media markets. Strengthens transferable communication skills valued in civic, nonprofit and governmental sectors that serve multilingual publics. Provides academic grounding for advanced study in journalism, Latino studies, global media or communication research. DEEPENING UNDERSTANDINGS. Considers how bilingual journalism involves more than translation; it requires cultural sensitivity, linguistic precision and ethical decision-making regarding representation and voice. Highlights differences in news values, sourcing practices and audience expectations between English-language and Spanish-language media. Informs reflection on how language choice can shift narrative emphasis, credibility and/or accessibility. TOPICS AND THEMES. May include study and practice of bilingual interviewing; translation for journalistic accuracy; Spanish-language media history and market structures; ethics of reporting on immigration, identity, political conflict and cross-cultural communities; podcast scripting and audio editing; comparative analysis of Spanish and English newswriting conventions; trust-building and sourcing in marginalized or multilingual contexts; cross-national journalistic collaboration. Course content may include discussion of reporting on sensitive topics such as immigration, discrimination and political discord. Course content is selected to align with the course description and the current state of scholarship in the field. Instructors who teach this class may assign different readings and/or course topics that fit within the course description and meet the learning objectives. Prerequisites: Junior or senior classification; SPAN 302 or approval of instructor. Cross Listing: JOUR 319/SPAN 319.

Code

SPAN 319

Credits

3

Subject

SPAN