Press Release

NAHJ Launches Parity Project at Corpus Christi Caller-Times

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) successfully launched its Parity Project with the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Tuesday, Sept. 21. The Caller-Times is the 7th Scripps-owned paper to take part in the project. The Parity Project is NAHJ's initiative to dramatically increase the number of Latino journalists working in our nation's newsrooms and improve news coverage of the Latino community.

Through the Parity Project, NAHJ identifies cities where Latinos are underrepresented in the newsrooms but make up a significant portion of the population. In those target cities, NAHJ works jointly with existing print and broadcast outlets, area journalism schools, foundations and Latino community leaders to develop comprehensive model programs that will increase Latino newsroom presence and influence.

Corpus Christi has a population of approximately 277,000 that is at least 56% Hispanic and that figure is growing. The Caller-Times is the area's most-widely read newspaper with a daily circulation of about 66,000.

NAHJ launched the project with about 60 Caller-Times staff members who participated in cultural awareness training sessions. The sessions were led by Dr. Irasema Coronado, political science professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, and Nancy Vera, English department chair at Roy Miller High School and president of the local chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) which was founded in Corpus Christi. Coronado and Vera discussed trends and issues affecting Hispanics on both the national and local levels.

The launch culminated in a town hall meeting later that evening at the Solomon P. Ortiz Center where more than 120 community members attended to discuss the paper's coverage of the area's Latino community. Caller-Times' Editor Libby Averyt moderated the event, which began with brief addresses from Scripps Editorial Development Director Michael Phillips, Caller-Times Publisher Patrick Birmingham, and NAHJ's Joseph Torres and Kevin Olivas.

Many community members were critical of the paper's coverage of Hispanics in the past, bringing up the 1997 protest against the paper regarding its coverage of Hispanics and the under-representation of Hispanic journalists in its newsroom. However, a large number of attendees applauded the Caller-Times for becoming a partner in NAHJ's Parity Project and were hopeful that this could be a significant step toward improving relations between the paper and the Hispanic community in that city.

During the next year, NAHJ will assist the paper in forming a Latino Advisory Committee made up of community members and Caller-Times staff. The committee will meet quarterly to discuss issues affecting Latinos in Corpus Christi and how the paper can better cover them.

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.