Graduation Ceremony Marks Completion of Journalism Course

On Thursday, February 17, 31 aspiring journalists celebrated their completion of an introductory journalism course with a graduation ceremony held at the U.S. Interests Section (USINT), Havana. 

The course provides an introduction to the key principals of journalism, including professional ethics and basic journalistic standards, methods of reporting for different media, and the use of different sources of information.  Content is delivered remotely by the International Media Center (IMC) at Florida International University (FIU).  Modules cover radio broadcasting, community reporting, and edition of articles, with input from renowned professors from the USA as well as from Argentina, Spain and Costa Rica.  The course provides aspiring journalists with the foundations for reporting, and challenges them to seek new audiences for their work. Previous graduates have been featured in international publications including the New York Times, El Comercio, Lima and El Mercurio, Santiago.

USINT Chief of Mission Jonathan Farrar, Deputy Public Affairs Officer Molly Koscina and other representatives from USINT joined the graduates at the ceremony.  Before presenting the graduates with their certificates of completion, USINT Chief of Mission Jonathan Farrar congratulated the students on their dedication to journalism and their perseverance in completing the course.  Course professors from the Florida International University also conveyed their congratulatory messages via video conference.  The graduating students in turn expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to broaden their knowledge of journalism and to benefit from the expertise of the course professors.  These 31 graduates join more than 500 individuals who have participated in courses, lectures, discussions and other activities for independent journalists at USINT.