Journalism Student Helps Produce News App in Spanish

Stephanie Soto has assisted Tucson-based station KOLD-TV in the launch of "Noticias 13."

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One of Stephanie Soto's career goals is to serve the Hispanic community as a reporter.

The University of Arizona School of Journalism student already has quite a running start.

Soto helped Tucson's KOLD-TV launch "Noticias 13," which the television station calls the first app for Hispanic news consumers in southern Arizona.

Soto, who is on track to graduate in May 2017, translates stories from English to Spanish for the app and is helping to cover stories in the field.

"We will start getting more engaged with the Hispanic community, so we can write more stories that directly affect them," said Soto, a part-time employee who plans to keep working at the CBS affiliate when she returns to school this fall.

"Noticias 13" offers breaking news, interactive weather radar and video, sports news and Associated Press Spanish content. The app can be downloaded free through iTunes for iPhone and iPad users, and through Google Play for Android users.

"Stephanie has been doing a terrific job helping us go through the real-time, day-to-day motions of producing content for the app," said Joe Hengemuehler, KOLD's news director. "Her thoroughness, professionalism and quality work will help to ensure a successful launch."

Soto, a graduate of Nogales High School in southern Arizona, is a double major in journalism and Spanish literature. Her Spanish skills paid off while shadowing a KOLD reporter for a July 4 story, in which a 2-year-old child died after falling out of his father's moving truck.

"I used my bilingual skills to ask neighbors if they had heard anything when the accident occurred and how difficult it was to celebrate the Fourth of July in their neighborhood after the accident," she said.

Soto is scheduled to take Beginning Television Reporting and Production (JOUR 385), along with two Spanish classes, in the fall.

"My career goals are to become a reporter and serve the Hispanic community," she said. "I chose broadcast journalism because I want to report news accurately, shape discussions and help others experience true-life stories."

One day, Soto said, she would like to create a Hispanic journalism scholarship for students.

"That way, I can motivate and contribute to helping Hispanics gain a superior education," she said.