Two Reporter Staff Members Win $1,250 NAHJ South Florida Scholarships
Two Kendall Campus students received $1,250 scholarships from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ South Florida Chapter.
Alejandra Quiroz and Anthony Martinez, who received the recognition in January, are the second pair of students to receive the scholarship, which was created last year to support student journalism.
It’s only available to active members of The Reporter, Miami Dade College’s student newspaper.
The paper, which has a monthly circulation of 10,250 copies per print cycle, reports on all eight MDC campuses through its print, digital and newsletter editions, was launched on Oct. 4, 2010.
It has been recognized as the top community college student newspaper in Florida for the past 13 years and has won five national pacemakers.
Applicants for the scholarship needed to be enrolled in at least six credits at MDC, have a minimum 3.0 GPA, and complete two essays about the importance of journalism and their experience at The Reporter.
Alejandra Quiroz
Quiroz is a first-year psychology student in the Honors College at Kendall Campus who serves as an illustrator, social media coordinator and events organizer at The Reporter.
She has created Instagram reels and created illustrations to augment articles such as the Writers Guild of America, Hispanic Heritage books and K-Pop.
Born in San Cristobal, Tachira, Quiroz lived in Caracas, Venezuela until she was 16. She moved to the United States in 2021 and graduated from John A. Ferguson Senior High School in 2023.
The 19-year-old hopes to transfer to Stanford University to pursue a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in political violence. Quiroz wants to help immigrant children who are facing displacement and orphanhood in the U.S.
“By joining The Reporter, I’ve grown in skills, learned about myself and expressed my creativity,” Quiroz said. “The Reporter has offered me a family that supports [and] gives feedback. [It] deals a learning experience that would not have occurred had I been by myself.”
Anthony Martinez
Martinez, who was based at Kendall Campus, served as an illustrator for The Reporter from November of 2022 to December of 2023.
His digital and hand-drawn illustrations, including political cartoons and caricatures, augmented pieces on society, politics, personal development and arts and entertainment.
In November, the 20-year-old received three first-place honors from the Florida College Systems Activities Association for best comic strip, editorial cartoon and illustration, and an Inner Circle award for placing in at least three categories.
Last October, he was selected to represent The Reporter at the Fall National College Media Convention in Atlanta.
Martinez, who draws inspiration from editorial cartoonist Bruce MacKinnon, graduated from G. Holmes Braddock Senior High School in 2021 and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in graphic design at Florida International University. He aspires to work for a graphic design agency.
“When I first started The Reporter I was experimenting with styles and wasn’t used to the pace yet,” Martinez said. “The Reporter was my first job experience.”
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