A UF radio station will launch its first half-hour Spanish newscast tonight.
Produced entirely by UF students, “Noticias WUFT” will air on 89.1 from 11 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. every Thursday.
The idea of a Spanish newscast at UF began four years ago when a group of students produced news podcasts in Spanish, said Amy Jo Coffey, faculty adviser for “Noticias WUFT.” Several students have continued to develop a Spanish-only newscast since then.
“I hope that this newscast will provide an excellent source of information for the Hispanic/Latino community in North Central Florida,” said Felipe Awad, co-anchor of “Noticias WUFT.”
John Wright, dean of the College of Journalism and Communications, approved the newscast for WUFT-FM after Awad and his co-anchor Paola Alonzo, pitched him the idea last fall.
The target audience of this newscast is the “Spanish-dependent speaker,” Coffey said.
The first half of the 30-minute newscast will focus on local news.
Alonzo and Awad plan to talk about issues such as immigration and the economy.
“We are going to be covering the news and reporting it from a different angle, from the Hispanics’ point of view and for the Hispanic audience,” Alonzo said.
