Faculty Profile for Eraldo Enrico Giorgio Chiecchi

Biography Section

Biography and Education

Eraldo “Dino” Chiecchi is an associate professor of practice. He earned his undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Texas at El Paso in his hometown. He received his Master’s of Fine Arts in Creative Writing in 2021 also from UTEP after writing a book titled “Josue” he hopes to publish in spring 2022.

He began his academic teaching career at UTEP in 2016, specializing in newswriting and photography. Chiecchi began his journalism career at the El Paso Herald-Post as a crime reporter. He later worked at the Austin American-Statesman, San Antonio Express-News, South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, Tucson Citizen, The Associated Press, El Paso Times, serving in a variety of reporting and editing positions. His most recent newsroom post was at the El Paso Times where he was a managing editor.

Chiecchi published a book called: "Josue - A Young Man's Life Lost to Suicide" in May 2023. it received a great deal of media recognition and his not working on another book. The book is available on Amazon.

He also edited a book called: “True Border: 100 Questions and Answers about the U.S.-Mexico Frontera,” which is available in paperback, and in English and Spanish as an e-book. It received an honorable mention by the International Latino Book Awards.

He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 1997. He also is a past president and lifetime member of that organization. He is a founding member of the San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists, founding that organization in 1986 with three other journalists. He is a past board member of the Society of Professional Journalists. He is a past president of the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors and remains on that organization’s board of directors.

Chiecchi has been married to Maricarmen Chiecchi for 20 years.

Teaching Interests

Chiecchi has embraced teaching two critical programs that have revolutionized new media - Audition and Premiere. Audition is the go-to program for podcasts and broadcast news stories such as those on National Public Radio. He also has taken a shine to Premiere, the application of choice for video such as for telling news stories for some and others for cinematic pursuits. He already has a strong base of knowledge in Lightroom, a photography application used by journalists.

Research Interests

Chiecchi survived the shake-up in the newspapers industry that began in 2008 and remains interested in the industry as a whole and what the future holds for legacy media. While embracing multimedia journalism in all its forms and its own evolution, he studies and keeps track of newspaper trends.