Contact: Muriel Banares or
Carmen Ramos Chandler ,
(818) 677-2130
mbanares@exec.csun.edu

'Valley View News' now 'Transmitido En Espaņol'

Seven Spanish-speaking students currently working on Valley View News have branched into producing, writing, editing and anchoring the 10-minute Spanish-language newscast, which airs live on Mondays at 5:30 p.m. on the campus cable network. They have collaborated with Spanish language professor Renee S. Baez and other Spanish-speaking students in the journalism department to produce this weekly newscast.

Bilingual journalism students have created "Valley View News en Espaņol" in response to the growing demand for Spanish-speaking anchors in the Los Angeles Spanish-language media.

"This type of program is needed because of the lack of trained people working in the industry. The Spanish-speaking community is growing and will be a big part of California," said Baez, who also worked for an RCA-affiliate radio in Colombia.

One of the student pioneers of "Valley View News en Espaņol," Julio Ortiz, said the program is structured to serve Spanish communities by emphasizing their issues - ranging from civil conflicts to entertainment.

The students now have an opportunity to provide bilingual resumes to perspective employers when they graduate, said Rick Marks, director of Valley View News and CSUN journalism professor. He said students before could produce only English resume tapes.

"This will provide the students an opportunity to learn and apply broadcasting skills in English as well as Spanish and with the growing popularity of Spanish media, the students now have another outlet for their skills," Marks said.

At the end of the semester, "Valley View News en Espaņol" will combine several newscasts to create a 30-minute program that will air on Time Warner Cable.

"This will be a first of its kind here at CSUN that strictly uses our students; This is a major undertaking for the journalism department," Marks said.

Ortiz, a senior in broadcast journalism, said, "It is great to know that I can leave here as a bilingual student and know that I can knock on two doors instead of one. Thanks to this program, it gives me a great satisfaction to know that I can go back and be able to serve my community."

For more information, call Rick Marks at (818) 677-2016 or the journalism department at (818) 677-3135.

CSUN has about 27,000 full- and part-time students, offering 48 bachelor's and 39 master's degrees. Founded in 1958, CSUN is celebrating its 40th anniversary and is the only four-year university in the San Fernando Valley.