Award-winning CBS News journalist Vladimir Duthiers, ‘91, and Senior Director of Content Business Development and Innovation at ESPN Kevin Lopes, ‘05, will be speaking at a virtual Media Professionals Panel on Nov. 12. CONTRIBUTED BY: viacomcbspressexpress.com
Ammina Kothari, the director of the Harrington School of Communication and Media, has emphasized the importance of networking since the start of her tenure at the University of Rhode Island this semester.
The Harrington School will host a virtual Media Professionals Panel on Friday, Nov. 12 from 2-3 p.m., which will be moderated by Kothari.
The panel features two URI alumni, Vladimir Duthiers,‘91, an award-winning journalist at CBS News, and Kevin Lopes, ‘05, who currently works as the senior director of content business development and innovation at ESPN. Along with Duthiers and Lopes, the panel will also host Danielle Johnson, owner and creator of Spark FM, a radio station in Boston that primarily focuses on Caribbean, Afrobeat and Latinx music, and AJ Walker, an Emmy Award-winning news reporter and filmmaker who created the documentary “Losing Detroit.”
“Each guest will talk about their path on how they got to where they are,” Kothari said. “Then that will hopefully inspire students to ask questions.”
According to Kothari, this event is not a lecture, but more of an informal conversation between the panel of professionals and current students.
“I really see this more of a networking event for the students, as well as to ask questions and get to know people who are successful,” Kothari said. “For the panelists, they have an interesting story to tell, about how they went about different things, until where they are now.”
This event took a lot of preparation, according to Kothari. The panel was organized in conjunction with the New England chapter of the National Association for Multi-ethnicity In Communication (NAMIC), a professional development organization specializing in diversity advocacy in the communications industry, according to Kothari.
“I’ve been working on this for quite some time now,” Kothari said. “It actually came about a request from some of our students. I think they wanted to see more diverse speakers and bring some of our alums, but also media professionals who have found their own niche in very competitive industries.”
This panel discussion is part of a larger Harrington School initiative to increase engagement between students and media professionals, according to Kothari. This initiative also includes a proposed “media pitch competition,” along with more professional opportunities for students to participate in. More information on this will be released in the future.
“As the new director, I want to meet more with students,” she said. “I also see this as an opportunity to not only engage with our alumni and other media professionals in New England but also to connect more with our students as well.”
The panel features media professionals from various backgrounds and in different fields. Kothari said it’s also key to her and the Harrington School leadership that they provide events with different levels of media-based professions for students after graduation.
“I think it’s also important to highlight journalists and other media professionals who work at the local level,” Kothari said. “National journalism gets a lot of attention, but local journalism is equally important.”
She is excited for students to have the opportunity to connect with the professionals next week.
Kothari said that knowledge and expertise found in panelists can also be recognized in URI’s students and programs. She said that the Harrington School is working to provide access and opportunities to participate and network with many professionals in various industries.
Lopes, one of the featured panelists, is looking forward to speaking and building connections with students at the event.
“I enjoy meeting and networking and talking with students,” he said. “I really enjoy seeing what type of questions I get asked.”
Lopes described himself as a “proud alumni” and attributes much of his success to his time spent at URI. He spent two years as the president of the Student Senate and was involved in many extracurricular activities.
“A network is really a part of the reason why people get that first job,” Lopes said. “I built my network at the University of Rhode Island and through folks that I met during my time on campus.”
Lopes and Kothari are both excited to see how students make connections with the panel members and what they take away from the career-based event.