NAHJ Awards $91k in Scholarships in 2009

More than $1.6 Million in Scholarships Paid in 22 Years of Giving

Washington, DC - The National Association of Hispanic Journalists awarded $91,000 in new scholarships this fall to 31 students pursuing a career in journalism. An additional $19,000 has been paid out in 2009 from continuing scholarships to six students.

• en español

With this year’s awards, NAHJ has given out a total of more than $1.6 million in financial aid to more than 580 aspiring journalists, since the scholarship fund began operating in 1987.

The scholarships are part of NAHJ’s educational and professional development programs, which include annual conventions, student media projects, journalism workshops, multimedia training, an online career center and much more. Through these programs, NAHJ seeks to boost the number of Latinos in newsrooms and to create a path toward achieving more fair and accurate coverage of the Hispanic community.

The NAHJ scholarships are made possible through individual, corporate and foundation donations to the Rubén Salazar Scholarship Fund, established in honor of the Latino journalism pioneer who was killed by a tear gas projectile from an L.A. County Sheriff while he covered an anti-war demonstration in 1970.

NAHJ is also able to offer these scholarships in 2009 thanks to generous personal donations from María Elena Salinas, co-anchor of Noticiero Univisión and syndicated columnist, and Geraldo Rivera, senior correspondent for Fox News Channel. This year’s scholarships are also possible thanks to grants from the Samuel Newhouse Foundation, the Ford Motor Company, CNN and Univision. Contributions to the Rubén Salazar Scholarship Fund have also been received in 2009 from the James Cox Foundation and the Dow Jones Foundation.

“The scholarship recipients, from beginning community college students to graduate students, have shown through their words and their work that they are committed to improving media coverage of the Latino community and giving a voice to our people,” said Iván Román, NAHJ’s Executive Director. “These are precisely the kind of people we need doing journalism in the future. We’re thankful to the supporters who have joined us in this effort.”

Despite the economic downturn, NAHJ remains committed to continuing its support of the next generation of Latino storytellers. NAHJ’s Count Me Iñ fundraising campaign seeks to raise $300,000 by December 15, 2009 to bolster its educational and professional development programs in this changing news media landscape. For more information on the campaign or to donate, click here.

NAHJ is pleased to announce the 2009 scholarship recipients:

Newhouse Scholarships
($5,000 for students pursuing careers in English-language print and online journalism or a $1,250 where indicated by an asterisk*)

*Arlinda Arriaga, University of North Texas
*Christina Dominguez, Houston Baptist University
Regina Garcia Cano, Kent State University
Jose Martinez, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles
*Aaron Montoya, Colorado State University
Laura Morel, Emerson College
Vanessa Nevarez, City College of San Francisco
*Cindy von Quednow, California State University, Northridge

*These $1,250 scholarships supplemented with another $1,250 from NAHJ’s Rubén Salazar Scholarship Fund.

Ford Motor Company Scholarships
($2,000 scholarships for students pursuing careers in journalism in either language or any type of media)

Melissa Aparicio, Northwestern University
Simone Kiran Aponte, Academy of Art University, San Francisco
Mariana Cristancho-Ahn, Columbia University
Heather Tirado Gilligan, University of California, Berkeley
Lauren Mendoza, University of Southern California
Andres Gonzalez, University of Maryland at College Park
Mayra Marquez, University of North Texas
Jacquelinne Mejia, University of Missouri
Diane Montaño, University of California, Berkeley
Esmeralda Ramirez, California State University, Chico
Joanna Suarez, University of Miami
Jaime Zea, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Maria Elena Salinas Scholarship
($5,000 scholarships for students pursuing a career in Spanish-language broadcast journalism)

Nicole Colon-Quintana, Penn State University
Andrea Puente, University of Florida
Gitzel Puente, Arizona State University

Geraldo Rivera Scholarship
($5,000 scholarship for students pursuing a career in journalism in either language)

Cristina Aguirre, Columbia College Chicago
Yenny Medina, Brigham Young University

Rubén Salazar Scholarships
($2,000 scholarships – or $1,250 for those with an asterisk* — for students pursuing a career in journalism in English or Spanish and in any type of medium.)

Ana Aguayo, University of Arkansas
*Arlinda Arriaga, University of North Texas
*Christina Dominguez, Houston Baptist University
Juan Elizondo, University of Texas at Austin
Katya Hernandez, Montgomery College, Silver Spring, Maryland
Rubi Martinez, Pierce College, Los Angeles
*Aaron Montoya, Colorado State University
Mario Salazar, California State University, Los Angeles
*Cindy von Quednow, California State University, Northridge

*These $1,250 scholarships from the Salazar fund supplemented with another $1,250 from the Newhouse Scholarships.

CNN Scholars
($2,000 scholarships for students pursuing careers in broadcast journalism in either English or Spanish)

Vanessa Castaneda, Stanford University

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 1,400 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