UNC Hussman School of Media and Journalism, 2022 Bloomberg Business Journalism Diversity Program returns to New York City
by Barbara Wiedemann
The annual Bloomberg Business Journalism Diversity Program, a partnership between UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media and the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, returned to New York City last week after two years of pandemic-related postponement (2020) and remote programming (2021).
On Monday, May 16, nearly two dozen college students and recent graduates from around the country with an interest in business journalism convened at Bloomberg News offices in New York City, proof of vaccination in hand, for an intensive, all-expenses-paid workweek-long overview of how journalists effectively report on news about the economy, businesses, markets, government and labor.
The program was founded in 2017. Past participants report feeling more confident covering future business stories and gaining skills needed to clearly articulate business and economic concepts in writing.
“I found the workshops really interesting and insightful, especially ‘Covering Companies,’ where we learned about narrative storytelling and different techniques to use when doing a story on a company. By the end of the week, I knew more about the field of business journalism and how I could use the skills that I’ve learned to be a trailblazer and make a positive change in the world.”—Emma Amaglo ’22
Participants were welcomed to Lexington Avenue headquarters by Sonali Pathirana, program director and Bloomberg News’ managing editor overseeing internships and entry-level talent for the organization’s news programs in North and South America and the United Kingdom.
Pathirana coordinated an action-packed week of NYC-based activities, including tips from a panel of former alumni of the program; studio tours; workshop sessions, hands-on training opportunities, demonstrations and a chance to hear from the likes of John S. and James L. Knight Foundation President/CEO Alberto Ibargüen and Bloomberg News co-founder and Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Matt Winkler.
Twenty-three college students and recent graduates in the 2022 cohort represented Appalachian State, UC Berkeley, Georgia State, Howard, Saint Peter’s, Winston-Salem State and Xavier universities, and the universities of Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon and Texas at Austin, as well as CUNY Hunter College. Among the program participants were two UNC Hussman students and two very recent (May 7) graduates:
• Rising UNC Hussman junior Nayeli Jaramillo-Plata is a first-generation college student from Clinton, N.C., and a UNC women’s water polo club member. She plans to double-major in media and journalism and economics, with a minor in data science. Jaramillo-Plata is a University Desk staff writer for Carolina’s student-run newspaper The Daily Tar Heel. She completed a 2020 summer internship with her local newspaper, The Sampson Independent, and a fall 2021 internship with digital Triangle (N.C.) tech news outlet GrepBeat. She’ll report from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ convention in Las Vegas this summer.
• Rising UNC Hussman senior Aashna Shah is a Charlotte, N.C., native and student-run fashion and lifestyle Coulture magazine style writer and now, associate style editor. Shah plans to double major in both media and journalism and communications with a minor in entrepreneurship. Her concentration at UNC Hussman is in broadcast journalism where, since 2020, she has acted as an anchor and reporter at Carolina Now, providing live news updates via Facebook to the Carolina community. This summer, she will serve as a strategic content intern at CNBC (NBC Universal). Her prior internships include stints at Shannon Media and Earfluence.
• Recent UNC Hussman graduate Emma Amaglo was born in Togo, West Africa, and grew up in North Carolina’s Triad region (Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point). Amaglo holds an undergraduate degree in media and journalism, with a minor in entrepreneurship. Her concentration at UNC Hussman was in advertising/public relations. At Carolina, Amaglo served in leadership positions as an ambassador for both UNC Hussman and for the UNC Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship. She has served as a marketing assistant with UNC Odum Institute for Research in Social Science since August 2021, providing social media and web content and updates. Amaglo heads to a position as business development consultant at Oracle later this summer.
• Recent UNC Hussman graduate Maydha Devarajan was a member of UNC Bhangra Elite, a South Asian folk dance team, as a student. In 2021–22, she was co-president of “Monsoon,” Carolina’s South Asian affairs magazine. The Cary, N.C. native holds undergraduate degrees in media and journalism and medical anthropology. Her concentration at UNC Hussman was in journalism. Devarajan spent four years on staff at The Daily Tar Heel, wrapping up as editor of Elevate, a section dedicated to covering underrepresented communities on campus and in the paper’s readership. Devarajan completed a research internship with the school’s Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media in 2019–20; and a metro reporting internship with The News & Observer in 2021. She is seeking a position that allows her to focus on accountability reporting and investigative journalism.
Alumni share insights from their experience as program participants
One of the first groups that participants heard from in New York City was a panel made up of program alumni, including UNC Hussman graduates Aysha Diallo ’21, a reporter and radio producer who helps create Bloomberg’s “Business of Sports” broadcast; and Maria Elena Vizcaino ’19, an emerging markets reporter for Bloomberg News. Both reporters participated as two of the six UNC Hussman students accepted to a 2019 version of the diversity program.
Diallo, a Fuquay-Varina, N.C., native and former station and programming manager and DJ for Carolina’s student-run radio station WXYC 89.3 FM, received dual degrees in media and journalism and economics at Carolina. She completed a student internship as a health reporter at Bloomberg News the summer after her program experience and joined the company fulltime in June 2021.
"The main things I tell program participants about the program is that it’s okay to not be well-versed in finance or business to be a part of the program or to begin a career at Bloomberg News,” said Diallo. “Many don’t come in with that experience or knowledge and that shouldn’t deter one from trying the program, it’s meant to introduce and spark interest as it did for me and many of my colleagues.”
Vizcaino, a bilingual native of Venezuela, entered Carolina with an associate of arts degree in journalism from Miami Dade College. She reported for the student-run The Daily Tar Heel at Carolina and served as an intern for the Orlando Sentinel (2018), The Dallas Morning News (2019) and on Bloomberg’s municipal finance beat (2019) before joining the company fulltime in January 2020.
"Three years ago, when I did this program, it was the first time I saw the world through the financial markets. I shared this with the participants of the program. We also spoke about how money managers look at real life events in the developing world — like the adoption of Bitcoin in El Salvador, the upcoming election in Colombia or the political crisis in Sri Lanka — and decide where it makes sense to put money to work.”—Bloomberg News Emerging Markets Reporter Maria Elena Vizcaino ’19
Late Monday afternoon, participants heard from UNC Hussman graduate Katherine (Kyung Bok) Cho ’06 (M.A.), who worked with Pathirana to present “Breaking News: Headlines and Fakery.” Cho earned her B.A. in anthropology from Seoul National University before attending Carolina. As executive editor at Bloomberg, Cho manages about 110 people across the globe on Bloomberg’s breaking news team.
On Wednesday, Diallo and Vizcaino accompanied program participants on an evening visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a private tour of the current “Winslow Homer: Crosscurrents” exhibition and networked with the 2022 cohort at a dinner following the tour.
The next mornings’ presenters included Catarina Saraiva ’09, longtime Bloomberg News reporter now covering the U.S. economy, on “Why do we care about the Federal Reserve?” via Zoom.
UNC Hussman faculty share their expertise
Participants worked with Bloomberg editors (“Good Writing Matters: A Workshop“), reporters (“Interviewing Techniques: A Workshop”) and data analysts (“Finding Narrative in Numbers: A Discussion and Pitch Session”) and had the opportunity to hear about diverse career paths and internship opportunities from Bloomberg News staff. Faculty from Carolina and Berkeley also shared expertise.
On Thursday afternoon, Associate Professor Lois Boynton presented remotely from Carroll Hall on “Unconscious Bias in Reporting.” Boynton, who teaches ethics and public relations classes at UNC Hussman, is a fellow at Carolina’s Parr Center for Ethics and serves on the school’s diversity and inclusion committee.
“The Bloomberg program provides an excellent way for top UNC students to join forces with peers from universities across the country,” Boynton said. “I was impressed by this cohort of 23 highly engaged students, and it’s always fabulous to work with Sonali Pathirana at Bloomberg.”
On Friday, John Thomas Kerr Distinguished Professor and Dean Emeritus Susan King, who helped Winkler establish the Bloomberg Business Journalism Diversity Program at Carolina in 2017, was on hand in New York to advise program participants alongside Bloomberg’s EIC Emeritus Matt Winkler and UNC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism Senior Director of Student Affairs Blaine Jones. The trio addressed a series of questions about everything from advice to young career starters and how to navigate a career in times of change; to how to maintain transparency and cultivate resiliency on the job.
Liana Pinner, UNC Hussman’s director of global, immersive and professional programs since 2016, has provided logistical coordination for the program since its founding five years ago. The partnership expanded to include University of California, Berkeley in 2018; and City, University of London in 2019 for students in the United Kingdom.
Pinner surveyed participants at the close of last week’s program. She notes that much richer connections are made between program participants who came together in New York City from across the country; and highlighted the benefits of networking face-to-face with instructors and guest speakers.
The London iteration of the Bloomberg Business Journalism Diversity Program takes place June 6–10, 2022, in London.