Press Release
October 16, 2007
The Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation Continues Supporting NAHJ’s Parity Project; Awards Two-Year $300,000 Grant
Media Contact: Kevin Olivas, NAHJ Parity Project Director, (202) 662-7168
WASHINGTON - The National Association of Hispanic Journalists will receive a two-year $300,000 grant from The Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation for its innovative Parity Project, which serves as an example for the journalism industry on how to improve newsroom diversity and coverage of diverse communities.
“NAHJ is extremely grateful for the support that has been given by McCormick Tribune,” said NAHJ President Rafael Olmeda. “In renewing this grant, the foundation shows that it believes in the Parity Project's ability to change a willing newsroom. We call on the journalism industry, concerned Latinos and our own members to join McCormick Tribune and NAHJ in supporting this innovative program.”
In May 2004, The Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation awarded NAHJ a $1 million, three-year grant for the Parity Project. The foundation is the primary sponsor of the program which works with selected English-language media companies that serve large Latino populations, but do not have a representative percentage of Hispanic journalists in their newsrooms.
Virtually all participating news organizations have had a net increase of their Latino staffers and experience better communication with the audiences they serve. The program involves training journalists on cultural issues, convening town hall meetings, and establishing community/staff advisory councils for long-term collaboration. More than 1,600 people have taken part in 34 town hall meetings and the Parity Project has helped 161 Latino journalists land full-time newsroom jobs.
“NAHJ's Parity Project is a winner. We are proud to support a program with a proven track record of improving diversity in newsrooms," said Clark Bell, the foundation's Journalism Program Director. "Parity has created new opportunities for Latino journalists and helped enhance coverage of diverse communities in news organizations that agree to participate."
The Parity Project was first launched in April 2003 at The Rocky Mountain News, owned by E.W. Scripps Company, which has doubled its Latino journalists on staff since joining the project.
NAHJ launches its next Parity Project partnership on Oct. 30, 2007 at the Landmark Communications, Inc.-owned Virginian-Pilot with a town hall meeting, making it the 26 th media outlet involved with the project.
Read the press release
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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.
About McCormick Tribune Foundation
The McCormick Tribune Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to making life better for our children, communities and country. Through its charitable grantmaking programs, Cantigny Park and Golf, Cantigny First Division Foundation and the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum, the Foundation is able to positively impact people’s lives and stay true to its mission of advancing the ideals of a free, democratic society. The learn more about the McCormick Tribune Foundation, please visit www.McCormickTribune.org.
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