In January 2017, Miriam Ruiz and husband Ivan Martinic, both guests of the School of Communications during the fall semester, conducted a Spanish journalism workshop prior to returning to their home in Chile. Ruiz, a journalism professor at the Universidad del Desarrollo and Martinic, an editor at El Mercurio newspaper in Santiago, taught students that the ability to write in two languages makes a journalist more valuable in the workforce, and developing that skill will give a graduate a leg up on the competition.
Following a lecture on journalism in Latin America, eight News Media students worked with Ruiz and Martinic to research current events in Spanish-speaking countries and then write a news story covering those events. Their grammar, storytelling, and journalism skills were then critiqued and applied further using various workshop activities. Ruiz said BYU is uniquely qualified for bilingual journalism because of how many returned missionaries attend the school and that she is excited to see what they will accomplish in the future.