Board Member Talks Women in Journalism, Loan A Drone
The Women in Journalism panel during the the NPPA Miami Driving Short Course in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami, Oct. 13, 2018. From left: Candace Barbot, Erika Larsen, Carina Mark, Caitlin Penna and Libby Volgyes. (Photo by Andrew Stanfill)
The NPPA Southeast Region teamed up with SPJ Florida and Chicas Poderosas to host an intimate, all-day workshop at TheVentureCity in Little Havana on Oct. 13.
Throughout the day, photojournalists, videographers and other visual journalists networked and learned from one another.
Carina Mask, a newcomer to the SPJ Florida board, spoke to attendees about the the work that the chapter does, incluoding its Loan a Drone program.
“Many of the guests traveled in from other counties and states to attend this workshop, and they were very curious if other branches of the SPJ have already implemented or had been planning to implement Loan a Drone programs throughout the state of Florida,” Masks said. “I talked about membership and how SPJ gives back to community and how we are assisting young future journalists with sponsorships.”
The board member also participated in a panel about women in journalism—women continue to be underrepresented in the field, especially in photography. Mask is a freelance photojournalist for local and national news outlets. Other participants included Erika Larsen of National Geographic, who touched on how she travels seven months out of the year, but still makes time to be with her family; Caitlin Penna talked about the importance of self-care and mental health, and the stigma associated with talking about mental health openly; and Libby Volgyes of LibbyVision discussed her transition from photojournalism into food photography and being a small business owner.
“The Women of Journalism panel was initially slated in the program as a 45 minute panel, however, the discussion went 45 minutes over,” Mask said. “It became more of a conversation with all the guests rather than a panel talk.”
Other panelists throughout the day included Carl Juste of the Miami Herald, Vic Micolucci of WJXT-TV4 and photographer Ben Ashford, as well as a photography workshop by Volgyes and Josh Ritchie.
“I’m proud to have a member of our board represent the chapter at the NPPA workshop,” said Christiana Lilly, SPJ Florida president. “As we develop our Loan a Drone program and other initiatives, we hope to continue working with budding and veteran visual journalists.”