By Dr. Nick Taylor, Assistant Professor
New Media, Journalism, and Communication Arts
NATCHITOCHES –The announcement of the 2024 Telly Awards was cause for celebration for m,embers of Northwestern State University’s Hispanic Student Journalist Association. The HSJA produced podcast “Latino Living” earned two Tellys during this award cycle. Podcasts Season 2 episode # 2, ” The American Dream,” and Season 2 episode #5 “La Carrera,” were both awarded Bronze Tellys in the category, Student – Online.
“Latino Living” is a podcast series produced as part of HSJA’s efforts to inform NSU and the surrounding community about Hispanic issues and trends. Each season podcast producers create five 15- to 30-minute episodes. The Season Two Telly winning topics focused on developing the individual beyond college.
For episode 2, “The American Dream,” hosts Naydu Daza-Maya and Lia Portillo conducted street-style interviews as well as in-studio discussions to answer the question, “Is the American Dream still alive for 20-something-year-old college students?”
For episode 5, “La Carrera,” hosted by Portillo and Isabel Juarez-Rubio, the podcast asked the question, “Is there life after college?” The word, carrera, has a double meaning in Spanish. Translated, carrera, means career but can also mean, the race. “Latino Living’s” hosts took that double meaning to illustrate the race college students feel searching for work after graduation.
Episode 5 held special meaning to the “Latino Living” crew because the featured guest was Naydu Daza-Maya who graduated December 2023 (the middle of Season 2) and earned a position with Shreveport’s KSLA as a multimedia journalist.
The Telly Awards is an annual international multimedia award competition. The organization has categories ranging from public relations campaigns to podcast production and everything in between. All production entities are eligible to enter works in Telly Award categories. Some notable companies who regularly submit work for consideration are The Walt Disney Company, ABC News and PBS.
“Latino Living” is housed under NSU’s Department of New Media, Journalism, and Communication Arts. With support from NMJCA department chair Dr. Jessica Zhang the podcast has seen growth and success throughout its two-season run. “Latino Living’s” advisor, Dr. Nick Taylor, takes pride in the accomplishments of the podcast members.
“Watching the crew come up with these heavy, important concepts and then finding ways to convert those difficult concepts into podcast segments that are of interest to audiences of all ages amazes me. The crew can take complex topics and make them fun and enjoyable to listen to,” Taylor said.
Latino Living’s production crew for Season 2 were as follows
- Producer/Host Lia Portillo, Senior, New Media, Journalism, and Communication Arts
- Host/Writer Naydu Daza Maya, graduated December 2023 with a degree from New Media, Journalism, and Communication Arts, currently working as a multimedia journalist with Shreveport’s KSLA.
- Assistant Producer/Host Isabel Juarez-Rubio, Junior New Media, Journalism, and Communication Arts
- Advisor Dr. Nick Taylor
- Podcast production under guidance from Department of New Media, Journalism, and Communication Arts Department Chair Dr. Jessica Zhang
- Support and additional guidance from Matthew Craig, NSU Student Media Coordinator
Latino Living will begin producing Season 3 in August.
Below are links to the award-winning episodes.
Episode-2 American Dream
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZB5kKkZwIs&t=313s
Episode 5 La Carrera
