It鈥檚 not as simple as translating the news, administrators say. To be effective, students need to know how to reach native and bilingual audiences. That鈥檚 what led 麻豆原创鈥檚 Nicholson School of Communication to launch the Hispanic Media Initiative, which lead to Knightly Latino, a weekly webcast聽that provides news in Spanish that is relevant and of interest to 麻豆原创 students.

The program聽began as a volunteer effort, which grew into a practicum and then聽a class.聽It鈥檚 part of a wider initiative to meet the needs of the growing Hispanic/Latino student population at 麻豆原创 and respond to an industry need for bilingual professionals in the field. The program also 聽provides all Nicholson students an opportunity to learn about how to work with different cultures.

Katie Coronado, a 麻豆原创 aluma,聽is at the forefront of聽the聽new program.聽Coronado聽has聽an extensive background working聽in Spanish and English media. She worked for Telemundo and NBC television affiliates before joining 麻豆原创 in 2012. The program is not just a personal project. It鈥檚 about giving 麻豆原创 students聽鈥� both Spanish-speaking and non-Spanish speaking 鈥� an聽advantage over others entering the聽media industry.

While newspapers are shrinking and the broadcast news telecasts fight over ratings, the two major U.S. Spanish media networks, Univision and Telemundo, have been taking bigger pieces of the rating pie. And the viewers are growing into a powerful consumer group.

According to the Selig Center for Economic Growth, in 2015 Hispanics controlled $1.3 trillion in buying power, an amount larger than the gross domestic product of some countries. The increase is more than twice the 76 percent growth in non-Hispanic buying power during the same period. The center鈥檚 projections show U.S. Hispanic buying power reaching $1.7 trillion by 2020.

Even Nielsen鈥檚 has taken notice. This past summer it issued a report on the importance of the Hispanic viewer. And the population of Hispanics, now at about 57 million or 18 percent of the U.S. population, is expected to more than double (to more than 119 million) by 2060, while the rest of the population remains steady or declines.

So it makes sense to offer broadcast students an opportunity to learn about the Hispanic community and its culture, how to report news relevant to these communities, and how news centered on Hispanics impacts the greater community, Coronado said.

Erica Rodriguez Kight joined 麻豆原创 in 2015 to help with the initiative. She is working with students in Knightly Latino and her research focuses on how the media frames health issues for Hispanic audiences.

Coronado and Kight are working together on a textbook for the Hispanics in Media in the U.S. class, and several other classes are in development as part of the initiative.

Both communicators continue to teach other required broadcasts classes in the school,including the Knightly News capstone class. They are also collaborating with other universities in Spain and Cuba to seek out international opportunities for students.

鈥淥ur focus isn鈥檛 just about producing content in Spanish,鈥� Coronado said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also about analyzing the delivery of Spanish news and the effects on its audience.鈥�

The effort is important to teaching all students the power of good journalism.

鈥淥ur evolving Hispanic Media Initiative is already an essential part of our broadcasting program for our students,鈥� said Robert Littlefield, director of the Nicholson School of Communication. 鈥淚 am proud to be associated with these pioneers in our program.鈥�

Dozens of print and broadcast student reporters will be covering voting locations in Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Volusia counties from 8:30 a.m. through 8:30 p.m. Up-to-date coverage will post hourly on the Knightly News website () and a full online newscast will air at 4:00 p.m.

Today鈥檚 election coverage is groundbreaking not only because it is the first time in 麻豆原创 history this has been done, but also because coverage is in English and Spanish. Radio-television instructor, Katie Coronado, shares that this is the first time these students are involved in an election as reporters, 鈥淧rint journalism and radio-television students are working together to write, produce and present what鈥檚 happening during the election. They are focusing mainly on our local government elections and keeping the community informed in both English and Spanish.鈥�

Chelsie Sloan, executive producer of the election special, is excited about students coming together, 鈥淭his is a great time for 麻豆原创 journalism students. So many people from different classes are all working together and getting real world experience.鈥�

Journalism associate professor, Steve Collins, echoes Sloan鈥檚 excitement stating, 鈥淭his is just a fantastic opportunity to get students out in the real world, get them excited about journalism and let them produce meaningful stories.鈥�

The webcast and hourly web updates are available at under the Elections tab. You can also follow Knightly News on Twitter at .