Galápagos project showcases stories

Stop 10 people on the street with a question about the Galapagos Islands, journalism professor Pat Davison says, and eight will talk about giant tortoises or Charles Darwin.

But Wednesday night at the FedEx Global Education Center, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication unveiled its latest Web site, “Living Galapagos,” to try to change some of those ideas.

The multimedia site, created by 21 journalism students through a partnership with La Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador, focuses on the islands’ residents and the issues placing it at risk.

The site features four distinct parts — stories, people, places and facts. Each uses multimedia techniques to show how people are affecting the islands and tell the residents’ stories.

“This is the first of its kind in the world as far as I know,” said Davison, who served as the site’s executive producer and multimedia coach. He said that other sites have focused only on land and animals.

The Web site is bilingual, offering stories in both English and Spanish through the help of La Universidad San Francisco de Quito.

Each story is told directly from the source without narration by the students and includes the option of a direct English translation.

Graduate student Lauren Frohne said the site is important because the stories have never been told before.

“People don’t realize that there are a lot of people living there and don’t realize the impacts of people living there,” Frohne said.

The project’s topics range from goat hunting and surfing to immigration and health care.

Senior photojournalist Sabrina Short said the site required a lot of work but provided a clearer glimpse into daily life in the Galapagos Islands. She said she hopes the site will portray the islands as having more than just turtles and pristine surroundings.

“I hope it brings awareness more than anything — awareness of the people that live there and struggles they face,” Short said.



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