Press Release

NAHJ Hosts Successful 17th Annual Scholarship Banquet in New York City

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists raised more than $170,000 at its 17th Annual Scholarship Banquet in New York City on Feb. 16 in support of NAHJ’s Ruben Salazar Scholarship Fund and Educational Programs.

The evening featured several speakers who addressed the importance of supporting journalism education in an effort to increase the number of Latino journalists working in our nation’s newsrooms. In addition, keynote speaker Anthony Romero, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, addressed several recent controversies involving the issue of government secrecy.

More than 330 people attended the banquet held at Gotham Hall to support the association’s efforts to provide financial assistance and training to Latino journalism students.

NAHJ President Veronica Villafañe announced that Univision anchor and syndicated columnist, Maria Elena Salinas, pledged to double her annual $5,000 contribution to the scholarship she established with NAHJ in 2002. The Maria Elena Salinas Scholarship supports the journalism education of students seeking a career in Spanish-language media.

Jon Klein, president of CNN/US, told banquet attendees that CNN decided last year to make a $335,000 donation to the NAHJ scholarship fund, as part of the network’s 25th anniversary celebration, because it understood the importance of increasing the number of Latino broadcast journalists.

Several of the evening’s speakers addressed the important role journalism plays in our society.

During his keynote speech, the ACLU’s Romero discussed how journalists played a key role in exposing secret activities of the Bush Administration, including the creation of a domestic surveillance operation within the National Security Agency.

Tina Griego, a city columnist for the Rocky Mountain News, described how NAHJ’s Parity Project helped the paper focus on the issue of education in its coverage of the Latino community. As a result, Griego spent a year chronicling the issue of truancy at a Denver high school where Latinos make up more than 90 percent of the student population.

Founded in 1986, NAHJ’s scholarship fund has awarded more than $1,000,000 in scholarships to more than 700 students.

The fund is named in honor of journalist Rubén Salazar who was killed in 1970 while covering the Chicano Anti-Vietnam War Moratorium in East Los Angeles. Salazar was a columnist for the Los Angeles Times and the news director for the Spanish-language television station KMEX at the time of his death.