Washington, DC – Hundreds of journalists converged in San Juan, Puerto Rico for cutting-edge multimedia training sessions and to learn how to remain on the vanguard of a morphing news media industry. With journalists battered by massive layoffs in newsrooms, the 27th Annual NAHJ Convention and Media & Career Expo offered hope to many with its hands-on instruction, technology-focused theme and opportunities for unemployed journalists to reignite their careers.

 

“We are entering a period where we can be much more participatory and collective and we can respond to the hunger of our public to be involved in making journalism,” said Geneva Overholser, director of the School of Journalism at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication during the convention’s main plenary titled Evolve. Embrace. Reinvent. “If I were coming into the industry today, I would keep a very open mind toward all the new tools that are available. We want to turn out people who embrace a sense of possibility and also who embrace a sense of wanting to reinvent.”

More than half of the 76 workshops at the convention on June 24-27 focused on multimedia journalism, some in two rooms that made up the first-ever CyberLab@NAHJ – a classroom-style, interactive training format with sessions on blogging, audio editing, podcasting, search engine optimization, Twitter, audio slideshows, streaming live video, social media for journalists, producing a live shot using Skype/VOIP and much more.

Journalists also discussed how to monetize a blog, explored business models for making their own journalism, analyzed the innovation in Latin American web sites, and learned what they needed to be a backpack journalist, each leaving with a guide on “How to Build Your Multimedia Go Bag.” Dozens packed the room for an eight-hour multimedia bootcamp, a four-hour Flash workshop which was offered twice, and at least 90 people filled four rooms to receive eight-hours of training on using Final Cut Pro video editing software.

“This convention sent the message that here are all these tools, these are the technologies you can use to be better at what you do, whether you go back to your newsroom or you work as an independent journalist,” said Mc Nelly Torres, an investigative reporter who was laid off from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in May. “I was very impressed. I was so lucky that NAHJ paid my way because there was no way I could have afforded to go to the conference otherwise.”

A helping hand to get there

Torres was one of 76 journalists who received airfare, convention registration and lodging to attend the convention thanks to two $50,000 grants from the Ford Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The Ford Foundation also awarded NAHJ another $50,000 grant to sponsor The Latino Reporter convention newspaper produced by students. In addition, NAHJ was able to assist about 40 other journalists by either offering complimentary registrations and in some cases providing airfare. Priority was given to journalists who had been laid off within the last year and/or who worked in Spanish-language media.

Roughly 850 people attended the convention in all, a number that well exceeded the 700 convention organizers were expecting. The convention had a no-frills, get-down to business feel, a tone convention organizers felt was appropriate and necessary in light of mass layoffs and budget cuts across all sectors of the industry.

Expenses were redirected towards training initiatives and attendees were asked to bring their laptops. In addition, NAHJ equipped most of the Puerto Rico Convention Center with high-capacity Wi-Fi, which allowed more than 500 people to simultaneously download and use Web-based software as part of convention workshops. Click here to see the convention program book. All attendees also received a 72-page bilingual guide on using Twitter, Facebook, mobile social search engines and lots more titled “Social Web Tools for Journalists,” which included a bilingual glossary of tech terms.

Journalists also attended lively sessions on creating a good online resume and digital profile, covering environmental issues, media policy as a Latino civil rights issue, and making financial sense in the midst of crisis, among other topics. A four-hour workshop on photography for non-photographers set 50 journalists with cameras loose in Old San Juan, seaside fishing villages and poor and working class enclaves under the watchful eye of veteran photojournalists, who critiqued their work on site and then in personal one-on-one feedback sessions.

Innovative student training

NAHJ also provided registration, travel and lodging for 63 students and 33 professional journalists who participated in the Student Projects and Student Campus. For the first time, the Student Projects were fully converged and entirely focused on multimedia journalism training. The Latino Reporter Digital news Website was the primary media outlet, and it included radio packages for the web, live blogging and tweeting, photography, video and graphics. The student projects also featured two print editions of The Latino Reporter and its first digital-only television newscast produced without the use of a television studio. All students received training in video, audio, photography, design, live blogging, tweeting and other social networking platforms. Click here to see The Latino Reporter Digital.

In the Student Campus, participants at an early stage in their journalism studies learned about writing and ethics, discussed how to network and build a career in journalism, toured media outlets, held discussions with politicians in the Capitol, and shot video and did some reporting on the streets in three different areas of San Juan as a way to hone their interviewing skills. The Student Campus was made possible by support from State Farm Insurance.

Student Projects participant and University of Missouri-Columbia journalism student Carolina Astrain said she got a sense of identity as a Hispanic journalist from the mentors who are established leaders in their fields. “It was a great experience because I got to take from their life experience, and I am able to link that to my own life. I came out of the convention with more confidence that may help me get a job, and it helped ensure that my opinions as a Hispanic journalist are not silenced, even by myself,” Astrain said.

Cerritos College graduate Erick Galindo said the training in the Student Projects on media convergence was well thought out. “Besides the focus on hands-on training of Twitter, Facebook, Final Cut and audio recording, there was also a focus on the philosophy of telling stories using convergence media,” Galindo said.

In addition to the grant from The Ford Foundation, the Student Projects were made possible with support from ESPN, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc., and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

New inductees to the NAHJ Hall of Fame

Geraldo Rivera, host of ‘Geraldo at Large’ on FOX News, was inducted into NAHJ’s Hall of Fame and delivered a message of hope for journalists and students daunted by the upheaval in the industry. “Don’t be dismayed. Don’t be discouraged. Over the 40 years that we have been at this, we have seen valleys and we have seen peaks, and this too shall pass. And you do get the opportunity to effect social change in this business,” Rivera said.

He then tackled the issue of voting rights for soldiers from Puerto Rico, his father’s homeland, where island residents, who are U.S. citizens, can not vote for President of the United States.

“I will ask Barack Obama to allow any GI, whether resident of Puerto Rico or not, to be enfranchised and be able to vote. If they can die for the commander in chief, they should be able to vote for the commander in chief,” said Rivera during his acceptance speech.

Ysabel Durón anchor of ‘Weekend Morning News’ at KRON Channel 4 in San Francisco and Juan Gonzáles, founder of El Tecolote newspaper in San Francisco, joined Rivera as the newest inductees into NAHJ’s Hall of Fame during a ceremony and gala dinner on Friday, June 26. Click here to see their acceptance speeches.

Politics surfaced during the Newsmaker Luncheon titled, Walking the Tightrope: Challenges Faced by the Media in Venezuela, as a panel of journalists from Venezuela discussed the heavy government pressure, arrests, and the threat of lawsuits and government shutdowns of media outlets that they face to keep doing journalism in that country. Via video chat from Caracas, Alberto Ravell, director of Globovisión, a station that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has threatened to strip of its broadcast license, joined the discussion together with Patricia Poleo, a journalist who left that country to avoid threats of prosecution, and Alejandro Lifschitz, Latin America editor for Reuters. The session was moderated by Eduardo Hauser a former Venezuelan journalist who is now a member of the board of directors of National Public Radio.

The convention’s lead sponsors included: Continental Airlines, the Ford Foundation, Puerto Rico Tourism Company, State Farm Insurance, and the U.S. Army. Other sponsors were El Nuevo Día, FedEx, The Walt Disney Company, CNN, Coca-Cola, Gannett Foundation, Marketwire, PBS, Univision Communications, Inc., Bloomberg, LiUNA!, and The Washington Post. In-kind support was provided by Computer Services Support, Inc., Rones de Puerto Rico and the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón.

The Media and Career Expo provided opportunities for unemployed journalists, recent graduates and students to network with recruiters from media companies such as The New York Times Company, the Associated Press, National Public Radio, and many more.

Beginning with a blessing

On the lighter side of news, legendary stand up comedienne Marga Gomez performed her theater piece “Long Island Iced Latina” about Latinos and Latinas who don’t speak Spanish but identify with Hispanic culture. “We have to thank you for keeping journalism above Perez Hilton,” said Gomez during her show, which was followed by an open air reception that kicked off with a vibrant performance of Puerto Rican bomba and plena folkloric dance.

Convention attendees also got a chance to screen the Divas and Superstars episode of PBS’ documentary series Latin Music USA which will air this fall. In addition, dozens got up early to work out to a Latin beat under the palm trees and by the sea, starting their day off right.

And speaking of starting things off right, the convention kicked off on Wednesday June 24, the day celebrating the birth of the capital city’s patron saint, San Juan Bautista. On the eve on Tuesday night, convention attendees joined tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans across the island who partied seaside and at the stroke of midnight, when the sea waters are said to be blessed, threw themselves backwards into the water at the Caribe Hilton’s beach to wash away the evil vibes of the past year and usher in good luck. That luck seemed to stay with the attendees throughout the week of the convention, making the event a resounding success.

NAHJ leaders said they accomplished what they set out to do – train a large wave of Latino journalists who can use their newfound multimedia skills to forge new paths in this new media landscape.

Miami Herald reporter and convention programming co-chair Frances Robles stated the goal clearly during the convention’s Opening Plenary. “As media professionals, we are at the pinnacle of a major revolution of change, and our conference focus this year is to prepare you to be a dynamic player in that movement.”

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Founded in 1984, NAHJ’s mission is to increase the percentage of Latinos working in our nation’s newsrooms and to improve news coverage of the Latino community. NAHJ is the nation’s largest professional organization for Latino journalists with more than 2,300 members working in English and Spanish-language print, photo, broadcast and online media. NAHJ is a 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization. For more information, visit www.nahj.org.

Media Contact: Iván Román, (202) 662-7178