Image by keiyac, courtesy of Creative Commons
Written by Camila Fernandez/BBC Managing Editor
camila.fernandez@fiusm.com
Racial tensions between police officers and black communities have sparked a number of nationwide protests. To address this issue, journalism students at the MAST @ FIU Academy at Biscayne Bay Campus, will host a “Twitter talk” Thursday, Dec. 11.
The forum is part of a collaboration between the University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications and the academy’s journalism elective course. According to Robert Gutsche, assistant professor at SJMC, the discourse is a learning experience for the high schoolers.
He said that it is important for them to understand the role of social media in society. “They begin to harness the power behind the use of social media,” Gutsche said. In reference to the discussion, Twitter has been an outlet of expression and activism.
Destiney Charles, a high school freshman at the academy, said that one of the discussion topics will be if whether or not the protests are led by community racial issues or hostility among different social statuses. Charles and two other classmates will lead the forum, but the entire class is expected to participate.
“[Social injustice] is becoming a national issue,” said Charles. “Everyone in the world is becoming aware of it.”
The idea of initiating a twitter talk began with a class forum on Edmodo, a social learning website that the journalism class uses to discuss major issues. According to their professor, Arleen Senas, the students talk about people trying to seek justice through the protests.
Senas aims to engage them in social media to become activists, seek information, and voice their opinions. They have their own student digital newspaper www.themarineechos.com where students provide news and opinion.
Charles said that she and her classmates are privileged to study at the University and that the journalism course will be a beneficial tool as she looks forward to becoming a fashion designer.
“I’ve never heard of marine science in high school until I got here,” said Charles. “I think that sooner or later all I’m learning now will help me in the future.”
The Twitter talk is open to the public and will be held at the Media Innovation Incubator Lab at the Honors College room AC1 in BBC from 4 pm to 5 pm. Participants are encouraged to log onto Twitter during the discussion and reply to @MarineEchoes with the hashtag #MASTonJustice.
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