Dr. Mario García, Sr.
CEO/Founder, García Media
garcia-media.com
E-mail: mario@garcia-media.com
Twitter: @DrMarioRGarcia
Trained as a journalist, Mario is strongly committed to the idea that content is what determines the success of a brand; his work and teaching is based on his “WED” philosophy, of combining writing, editing and design as basic principles for effective communication of ideas.
Mario has devoted more than forty years to redesigning publications and has personally collaborated with over seven hundred news organizations. From such large projects as The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, South China Morning Post, New Straits Times (Malaysia), The Philadelphia Inquirer, Handelsblatt and Die Zeit, to medium-size newspapers, such as The Charlotte Observer and Göteborgs-Posten, or smaller ones in the heartland of America, such as the Lawrence (Kansas) Journal-World or the weekly of the oil and energy industry, Upstream (Norway), all projects command the attention and special personalized service that is part of the Mario trademark.
Mario often tells everyone that he is, first and foremost, a teacher. Mario started his teaching career as a journalism professor and publications adviser at his alma mater, Miami-Dade Community College. From there he became a professor of graphic arts at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications (1976–1985) and the University of South Florida (1985–1991). In addition, he has been a Distinguished Professor at the University of Navarra, Spain, as well as a lecturer at universities in twenty-five countries throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Mario founded the Graphics & Design program at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, of which he is still a faculty affiliate and where he continues to be involved with EyeTrack research. (In 2012, there will be a new EyeTrack study to test how tablet users read the news on this new platform.)
Mario has also been an American Press Institute presenter for over two hundred seminars, as well as an organizer and moderator for dozens of seminars at IFRA (Germany) and IAPA (Latin America) and the WAN/IFRA organization.
Mario has received over three hundred SND Awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award. People magazine selected Mario as among the 100 Most Influential Hispanics.
Mario is a 2011 recipient of the University of Missouri School of Journalism’s Medal of Honor for Distinguished Service in Journalism.
These are truly the best of times to be a storyteller—we can tell stories across platforms, emphasizing the uniqueness of each.
—Mario R. García