Microsoft and the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas announced a partnership to create an online course that aims to reach Latinx, a gender-neutral or nonbinary word used as an alternative to Latino or Latina. The course, announced Tuesday, specifically targets Gen Z and Millennial storytellers. 

Latinxs are “severely underrepresented” in media despite the many gains and contributions they have made to newsrooms, film, and television in the last decade, according to according to the Government Accountability Office.

Latinx made up between 11% and 12% of the media industry workforce from 2014 to 2019, and in 2019, only 8% of newspaper and publishing staff were Hispanic. Today this group makes up 25% of all Gen Z and 21% of all Millennials in the United States.

The first online course — Digital Storytelling for the Next Generation of Latinx Journalists — will run from June 20 through July 17, 2022. It is open to Latinx college and university students in the United States.

Amara Aguilar will lead the four-week program that features learning and professional development opportunities. It will introduce students to the tools necessary to empower their journeys for a career in media, according to the partners.

Aguilar teaches at University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. She teaches journalism for mobile and emerging platforms, social media storytelling for Latinx audiences, visual journalism, engaging diverse communities, public relations strategy, and interactive design, among other courses. At USC, she co-founded Annenberg Media’s award-winning bilingual outlet, Dímelo, focused on serving Latinx audiences.