Former Reporter Editor Selected For NPR Digital Journalism Project
Ammy Sanchez, who served as The Reporter’s editor-in-chief during the 2021-2022 school year, was one of five participants selected for NPR’s Next Generation Radio—a five-day digital journalism program.
The program, which seeks to identify and train the next generation of public media talent, started on Jan 2. Sanchez completed a four-minute non-narrated radio story and a 700-word web story on what it means to be a Floridian.
The story was about Miriam Bettant, one of the owners of Miami Beach’s Bettant Bakery & Café.
“I had so much fun producing the story,” Sanchez said. “It was a fast-paced week but incredibly worth it.”
In the radio piece, Bettant spoke about the bakery’s history, catering to a Latin American clientele while keeping a French touch, why she wants to keep the bakery in South Beach long term and what makes South Florida special.
Guiding her through the process was Verónica Zaragovia, who serves as a health care reporter for WLRN—NPR’s South Florida member station. She helped Sanchez select her story, conduct interviews, and produce and edit the radio and digital web story.
“Ammy really couldn’t have been a more perfect person to apply for this program,” Zaragovia said. “She’s really intelligent and really hardworking.”
Less than two weeks before participating on Next Generation Radio, Sanchez finished a 12-week internship at WLRN where she reported, produced and wrote stories on issues including Miami Tower Theater, aid for Ukraine, Miami Art Week and Brazil’s presidential elections.
Sanchez also helped produce the AM and PM newscasts and the Friday afternoon program— South Florida Roundup.
“She’s genuinely curious about things, which is obviously a really amazing thing when you are a journalist,” said Sherrilyn Cabrera, a PM newscast and digital producer at WLRN who often worked together with Sanchez during her time as an intern. “Ammy is very open to just learning new things.”
During her time at The Reporter, Sanchez wrote for the news, sports, forum and briefing sections. Sanchez won several awards from the Associated Collegiate Press, including a fourth-place finish in the Reporter of the Year category and an honorable mention in the Sports Feature story category.
The 19-year-old’s other accolades include a second-place award from the College Media Association in the Best Profile Category, a first-place award in humor writing and a second-place finish in feature writing from the Florida College System Publications Association.
Sanchez, who earned an associate’s degree in mass communications and journalism from North Campus last May, is now a junior studying organizational communications at the Honors College at Florida International University. She aspires to be a journalist.
“I’m excited to see where I end up next,” Sanchez said.
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