A 2018 graduate of the UNR's Bachelor of Social Communication program, Laura Miyara is currently working in health journalism in Spain and has received significant awards.
Laura Miyara is a graduate of the Bachelor's Degree in Social Communication from the Universidad Nacional de Rosario and was awarded the third edition of the Journalism Award of the Spanish Society of Neurology (SEN) for her work on "La Voz de la Salud", the specialized portal of La Voz de Galicia, one of the most important newspapers in Spain.
The jury awarded her the Award for Best Outreach in Neurology, which is awarded to authors who have produced quality journalistic works on this medical specialty. “It's a very gratifying recognition to receive, because in this case it was for all the outreach I had done in 2024, so it's quite significant,” she confessed, adding: “I work for a media outlet that is a newspaper, and on a daily basis we must cover many topics that we can't always address with the depth we would like. Even so, we place a lot of emphasis on ensuring that everything related to medical and scientific outreach is communicated with rigor and precision, while also being interesting to people.”
In this sense, the communicator explained that it is essential to provide valuable information on how to take care of one's health or understand, for example, how an organ as important and valuable as the brain works. "It's not easy to convey it in an accessible way, and simplistic advice like 'drink a glass of water with lemon' often circulates, which doesn't reflect what truly contributes to good health throughout life. In reality, these are more structural issues and habits that are built over time; there is no magic solution overnight."
Earlier this year, she also won the 2024 Journalism Award on Internal Medicine, awarded by the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine (SEMI), in the digital media category. In addition, in 2023, she was recognized with the Journalists' Award granted by the Spanish Association Against Cancer and the National Association of Health Reporters. The UNR graduate explained that communicating science is often "quite a challenge" but is also a very exciting aspect.
Laura enrolled in the Social Communications program in 2012 and graduated six years later, in 2018. “Journalism had always interested me, and it was what I wanted to pursue when I enrolled in communications. But I was also interested in a lot of other areas, which is why I decided on social communications and not journalism, for example. I wouldn't change that decision for anything.”
Science wasn't always her main interest when it came to writing, as at first she focused more on cultural journalism, something she did for a time in Argentina and then in Spain. But then, she began to connect with health issues and found a field in which she felt truly comfortable. “The most rewarding thing about the health aspect is being able to connect with people's real needs. Many people are looking for information on how to take care of themselves, both individually and by knowing what resources are available to them. Our work allows us to bring that information to those who need it, and we receive many messages of gratitude from people who found it useful. I think that's very valuable because it has a concrete impact on everyday life.”
Most of the articles Miyara writes address complex topics that often connect to specific content specific to the discipline. Communicating them can often be a real challenge, but the communicator confessed that the process is often facilitated by "the experts we contact for the articles, who are highly trained to speak to the media and know how to communicate in a way that the general public understands."
However, that's often not enough, and Laura's own research task is at hand. "For example, cancer therapies, pharmacology, or more complex topics, you do end up reading bibliographies or searching for papers and asking experts more questions than necessary. I think something everyone should know is how clinical trials work. There's been a lot of talk lately about the risks of certain treatments or vaccines, and this often arises because people don't fully understand how these trials are conducted or what happens to a vaccine once it's released. Understanding these processes is essential to being able to communicate responsibly."
He also pointed out the difficulty of translating scientific concepts into everyday language: “Sometimes we get follow-up questions, and the doctors themselves tell us, 'If you have any questions about what we talked about, ask us,' because they know it's not always easy to clarify a concept. Communicating a scientific term that has a specific meaning in its context, but can be interpreted differently in colloquial language, is very complex. And the truth is, there's no formula for solving it.”
From Rosario to Galicia, a non-stop trip
After graduating, Miyara traveled to Spain to pursue a master's degree on a scholarship, and it was a decision that completely changed her life. "The final part was a two-month internship, which I did at La Voz de Galicia, but this time I was in the society and culture section. I interviewed writers, and it was very enriching. I had the opportunity to interview Martín Caparrós, Mariana Enriquez, and even Nathy Peluso."
The pandemic caught her off guard in the Iberian Peninsula, forcing her to completely reconfigure her planning. “It was a very difficult time; due to the situation, no media outlet was hiring. After a while, I started working at the newspaper La Vanguardia, where I wrote other very diverse articles for a section on shopping and product recommendations. However, based on my previous internship experience, I was recruited for La Voz de la Salud when the newspaper decided to open this specialized section.”
Throughout this process, Laura became increasingly rooted in Spain, to the point that the trip, which was supposed to last a few months, became the beginning of a new phase. “I stayed because I couldn't return due to restrictions, then these job opportunities came up, and I met my partner. Although I didn't have a good time at the beginning of the pandemic because I was alone in a country that wasn't my own, things gradually settled down, and in the end, it really turned out to be an opportunity.”
He currently lives in La Coruña, a port city in the Galicia region of northwestern Spain. It's known for having its own Roman lighthouse, called the Tower of Hercules, which offers panoramic views of the coast.
The value of the Public University
Miyara highlighted the contribution of the Universidad Nacional de Rosario to her professional training, and how she's been able to put into practice various lessons she acquired during her academic stay. "I think it gave me the ability to think with a certain level of abstraction, to question and not just take a superficial view. In my current job, which is closely linked to health, we often fall back on individual advice for everyday life, but the social, economic, and political determinants of health are so important that finding balance isn't easy. At UNR, we learned to go beyond that. In addition, all the practical skills I acquired, such as writing, I use every day in my work, including in video and content production. Everything I learned is fundamental to what I do today."
During her time as a student, she began writing for Costados Magazine, a publication edited by students from all majors in the Faculty of Political Science and International Relations, which marked her first step into writing. She also had experiences in the faculty's Sound Lab. "I remember that before enrolling, I read the syllabus for the bachelor's degree, and I realized I was interested in everything. There were subjects like Culture and Subjectivity and Sociopolitical Thought that really caught my attention because I had studied at a technical school, and everything was new to me. I wouldn't trade the training I received for anything."
Miyara concluded by emphasizing the virtues of Argentina's public university system and how it is unique in the world. "There are things we take for granted in Argentina, regarding access to public university education, such as the fact that a person can begin a degree at any age. I compare this to Spain, where there is a fairly substantial public university system, but it is heavily geared toward people who have just finished high school and who study without working. Therefore, there are no schedules for taking classes at night, nor is it easy to combine work and study. Not to mention the limited capacity, which means you can't study the degree you want, but only the one your university entrance exam score allows," she summarized.
Journalist: Gonzalo J. García