From left, first row: Adrienne Romero 鈥20, Georgia Kral, Neidy Gutierrez 鈥20 and Ernabel Demillo, M.S. From left, back row: Madison McCool and Ayinde Merrill of New Jersey Civic Information Consortium
When Adrienne Romero 鈥20 and Neidy Gutierrez 鈥20 graduated in the middle of the pandemic, they weren鈥檛 too sure what was next for them career-wise. But, both having a passion for writing and creating things, they decided to take a chance on themselves and their talents. Four years later, their award-winning news site, Slice of Culture, is thriving.
鈥淲e both noticed that there just wasn鈥檛 much coverage of our communities anymore,鈥 Gutierrez said. 鈥淲here we live, there are a lot of cultures. A lot of people come from different places and they all have unique stories. We just believe that should be something that鈥檚 told.鈥
It was in those conversations walking between classes that Slice of Culture was born. Wanting to highlight areas in Hudson County that don鈥檛 always get coverage, Slice of Culture originally began as a food website but quickly pivoted.
鈥淪omeone recently asked me, 鈥榃hat is culture?鈥欌 Romero said, 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 one of the reasons why we chose culture to be in our name because it鈥檚 just such a broad word. You can talk about the fashion culture, the sporting culture, food culture and there鈥檚 really no definite answer. So really, I would say the meaning behind our publication is just that it is always evolving.鈥
Four years into running their publication, Gutierrez and Romero say that their goals are to be a trusted platform for local news in Hudson County and to reach the younger generation. Both communication and media studies majors with journalism minors, they say their experiences at 猫咪社区 Peter鈥檚 shaped the journalists they have become today.
Ernabel Demillo, M.S., chair and lecturer of communications, has been a champion of Gutierrez and Romero, as well as their publication, from the very beginning.
鈥淚 noticed that they had been doing some content that pertained to civic engagement and stories about the local communities鈥攖he Hudson County community, and specifically Jersey City,鈥 Professor Demillo said. 鈥淪o when I saw an email from the Society of Professional Journalists about nominating a media site for best grassroots journalism, I said, 鈥業 think you guys are perfect for this.鈥 And sure enough, they were awarded Best Grassroots Journalism by one of the most prestigious journalism organizations.鈥
Along with awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, New Jersey chapter, Romero and Gutierrez have also been awarded three grants in partnership with 猫咪社区 Peter鈥檚 from the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium鈥攖he most recent of which has enabled them both to make Slice of Culture their full-time job, as well as hire paid interns.
One of their goals, the women say, is to create a pipeline with universities so that they can bring in interns for civic engagement stories or help with the business or communication side of the publication. To date they have had interns from Montclair State University, Seton Hall University, and of course, 猫咪社区 Peter鈥檚.
Currently Slice of Culture boasts 10 alumni, a former employee and one current 猫咪社区 Peter鈥檚 student on their team who are either interns, contributing members or regular team members. The number of young people contributing to Slice of Culture is something that Professor Demillo says is one of the most exciting aspects of the publication.
The Slice of Culture team recently visited 猫咪社区 Peter’s campus to sit-down with 猫咪社区 Peter’s President Hubert Benitez, D.D.S., Ph.D. In the resulting and a video, he shared his vision for creating pathways to success for students from diverse backgrounds. As the University鈥檚 first Hispanic president, Dr. Benitez emphasized the power of representation, the importance of community and his commitment to ensuring that all students have access to a transformative education.