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NIMB welcomes new student interns on 3rd anniversary

NIMB 3 anniv logoOver the weekend, online publication News is my Business marked three years since its debut as a niche media outlet dedicated to reporting about Puerto Rico’s business community.

And we want to celebrate this milestone and our website’s year-over-year growth — 15 percent more unique visitors and 25 percent more pageviews in and outside Puerto Rico over the past 12 months — by paying it forward.

To expand our offering and to provide more enterprising and in-depth analysis and a broader range of stories, we have established and alliance with the “Buró de Noticias,” a student-based initiative launched by the Puerto Rico Journalists Association (ASPPRO, as it is known by its initials in Spanish), with communications firm The Big Think Group during the first Journalist Convention in July.

Through this agreement, several journalism and communications students enrolled in, or recently graduated from, Sacred Heart University in Santurce, the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras and the Inter American University, will work for this media outlet, allowing me to share with them my experience as a business reporter for the past two decades. The students who have expressed an interest in interning with NIMB are: Angela Aponte, Nicole Ortiz, Pablo Venes and Janet Rodríguez.

Being able to provide hands-on experience to this group of talented and energetic students is a great anniversary gift, as I fully believe in the significance of internships to gain experience in the field of journalism.

At the same time, we hope to offer our loyal and demanding readers business stories covering a broader range of topics. The students will come up with their own stories as well as cover news conferences so they can gain a sense of what the journalism profession entails.

This way, the students will have the chance to get hands-on experience in the field, while building their portfolio. Internships are a sure fire way for budding journalists to sharpen their reporting skills and develop a nose for news.

“We are proud that this project that emerged in an alliance between ASPPRO and The Big Think Group for our last convention has had an impact and has achieved its purpose — to open the doors of the professional world for young talented journalists,” said Rafael Lenín López, president of ASPPRO. “We thank News is My Business for taking this step and congratulate them on three years of hard work as a media platform.”

Over the past 12 months, NIMB has received about 125,000 unique visitors and more than 300,000 pageviews, mostly from readers in Puerto Rico and the continental United States. The website has also welcomed a long list of new and recurring advertisers whose support has been fundamental for its growth and development.

Clockwise from left: Angela Aponte, Michelle Kantrow, Nicole Ortiz, Pablo Venes and Janet Rodríguez.

Clockwise from left: Angela Aponte, Michelle Kantrow, Nicole Ortiz, Pablo Venes and Janet Rodríguez.

The group includes financial institutions Doral, FirstBank and Oriental Financial Group; telecommunications and technology companies Claro, AT&T, EVERTEC and Liberty Puerto Rico; government agencies including the Treasury Department and the Puerto Rico Tourism Co.; Walmart, Ford, AON, the Girl Scout Council, and real estate broker Cushman & Wakefield.

These advertisers have seen the value proposition of a niche media outlet such as NIMB, and have pledged their support to this venture over the past year. I want to THANK YOU for helping move this type of operation forward.

We also want to thank our list of contributors who have exponentially enriched our content by sharing their knowledge and experience through their columns. Our gratitude goes out to veteran Journalist Rafael Matos, public relations Expert Gigi de Mier, Economist Vicente Feliciano, the Small Business Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Brenda Reyes, among others, for their time and expertise. Lastly, but not least importantly, I must express my deepest appreciation and respect to my colleagues Larry Luxner, Lorraine Blasor, Doreen Hemlock and Mauricio Pascual for contributing their expert writing and photography to this news site over the past year — THANK YOU!

We’re excited about the prospects ahead and look forward to continuing to provide a voice to Puerto Rico’s business community, within and beyond our shores!

Author Details
Author Details
Business reporter with 30 years of experience writing for weekly and daily newspapers, as well as trade publications in Puerto Rico. My list of former employers includes Caribbean Business, The San Juan Star, and the Puerto Rico Daily Sun, among others. My areas of expertise include telecommunications, technology, retail, agriculture, tourism, banking and most other segments of Puerto Rico’s economy.
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