Saint Peter’s University has received a $100,000 grant from the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium to bolster their partnership with Slice of Culture, a news website that highlights stories of immigrant families and communities of color.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“We are so proud to see that graduates from our department were able to harness the power of journalism and the skills honed during their studies to make a difference in our local University community,” Saint Peter’s University Communication and Media Culture Chair Ernabel Demillo said in a statement.
“We are honored to be a part of the exciting efforts of Slice of Culture and we look forward to what this group of young journalists will accomplish.”
Two Saint Peter’s alumni, Adrienne Romero and Neidy Guiterrez (both class of 2020), founded SoC. The goal of the project is to shed light on the diverse community in Hudson County, share experiences of those behind the scenes and discuss real issues at home.
With the support of an initial grant of $40,000 from NJCIC in 2022, SoC produced 11 multimedia stories focused on civic engagement.
The team currently consists of four storytellers, a graphic artist, and a small community of volunteer staff writers, videographers and artists. The group has also offered community journalism-training workshops at Saint Peter’s University and the Bayonne Public Library.
Increased storytelling, content development and even translation of content into Spanish and possibly other popularly spoken languages in Hudson County will now be possible thanks to the new grant funding.
A select number of internships will also be made available for college students in the area, with Demillo, and Georgia Kral, instructor of communication and media culture, to serve as internship mentors.
SoC also plans to expand their training workshops and offer media literacy workshops at local libraries.
