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Summer 2006

Partnership with Mexican news company brings scholarships and more to MSU

Count news media among the industries being turned on their heads by globalization. As the Web matures and services such as Google News gather momentum, reporters’ stories are just as likely to be read in faraway countries as in nearby towns. So how can journalism training evolve to help students navigate international news careers?

One way is by seeking cross-border partnerships, which is exactly what the MSU School of Journalism has done in forging a partnership with a highly respected newspaper corporation in Mexico, Grupo Reforma.

Among the activities supported by the partnership: an annual scholarship for an MSU journalism student; a lecture series on journalism in the Western Hemisphere; internships for MSU journalism students who are fluent in Spanish at “El Norte” – one of the company’s four publications – in Monterrey, Mexico; ongoing U.S. research about Mexican journalism; professional fellowships on the MSU campus for Mexican journalists; and eventually, a new joint master’s program for Reforma journalists.

The ongoing Reforma relationship is the legacy of the late Mary Gardner, a longtime MSU journalism professor. Gardner worked with “El Norte” journalists for more than 25 years. She taught and mentored longtime “El Norte” publisher Alejandro Junco de la Vega while he was a student at the University of Texas. In 2000, Junco received an honorary MSU humanities doctorate.

Gardner arrived at MSU from Texas in 1966 as an assistant professor and retired in 1991 as a professor emeritus. She passed away in January 2004.

With the $100,000 gift from Junco and Reforma, the School of Journalism has created the Mary Gardner Scholars Program to honor the late professor’s legacy.

For more information, contact Kirsten Khire at khirek@msu.edu.

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