Latinos and Media Project

BIO

Maggie Rivas-Rodriquez is an associate professor in the Department of Journalism at the University of Texas. She received the Ph.D. (Freedom Forum doctoral fellow) from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in August 1998. Her dissertation was entitled, "Brown Eyes on the Web: A US Latino Newspaper's Site on the Internet," which included a content analysis of a Latino Web newspaper as well as one of the mainstream newspaper in the same market.

Rivas-Rodriguez received the Master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism in 1977. She received the Bachelor of Journalism degree from The University of Texas at Austin in 1976.

She has gained more than 17 years of daily news experience — mostly as a reporter for The Boston Globe, WFAA-TV in Dallas and the Dallas Morning News. Her first job was as a copy editor for UPI in Dallas. Her most recent professional work was for the Morning News' state desk, as bureau chief of the border bureau, based in El Paso and covering the border states.  Her research interests include new technologies and the news media and Latinos and the news media.

Rivas-Rodriguez was on the committee that organized and founded the National Association of Hispanic Journalists in 1982.  From this committee originated two of the NAHJ's most successful student projects: a convention newspaper produced by college students and professionals and a nationwide high school writing contest. The conference newspaper has become the model for most other industry organizations (ASNE, NABJ, AJA) as a way to develop mentoring relationships and train students.