In late January, students in the College of Journalism and Communications will get to learn from a former CNN editor.
On Friday, the college announced online that Mira Lowe, who began working at CNN in 2012, will serve as the new director of the Innovation News Center, the college’s newsroom that serves 19 counties in North Central Florida. The center can house nearly 100 student reporters at a time and produces content for WUFT and affiliates.
Lowe will be paid $120,000 a year and officially begins Jan. 27, UF spokesman Steve Orlando wrote in an email.
Lowe, 53, said the position will allow her to work closely with the next generation of student journalists.
“I’d love to see the INC be a premier model for what student newsrooms look like around the country,” she said.
Fernando Juncadella, a UF telecommunication senior, said as a sports anchor for WUFT, he typically works closely with the director of the INC. The 21-year-old said he’s excited to meet and work with Lowe.
“She comes from a news background, but she’s also done stuff with entertainment
and lifestyle, so me being a specialty reporter, that’s really cool, because then I’ll be able to bounce ideas off her,” Juncadella said.
The center takes students from telecommunication and journalism courses, Deputy News Director Gary Green said. This makes the news center a complex workplace, he added.
“It really takes a powerful leader to pull all those different moving parts together and get it moving in the right direction,” Green said.
He said he believes Lowe’s multimedia experience with CNN will translate to the news- room well, because WUFT also provides different forms of content.
“I think Mira’s experience shows that she’s the sort of person that can not only help us through the day to day, but look for the future and kind of a broader picture,” Green said.
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Mira Lowe
