Christiane Amanpour called on young journalists to harness the power of journalism to help their communities and their world at the successful 18th Annual National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ Scholarship Banquet held in New York City on March 1.

Amanpour, chief international correspondent for CNN, explained that the turmoil that ensued from the 1979 Islamic revolution in her native country of Iran was a call to her conscience.

“For me that was a turning point, and I quickly decided to turn a sense of loss, and a sense of failure really, into my driving force,” Amanpour told the 320 banquet attendees. In her keynote address, the veteran journalist who has covered wars and conflicts in places such as the Balkans and Iraq stressed the power of journalism and its ability to effect change. “I think this is an incredibly noble profession. When it’s done well, it’s an incredibly important profession and it’s a profession that can truly,

truly make a difference,” Amanpour said. “When you have a platform such as CNN, or whatever platforms are out there, it also brings with it an incredible responsibility. A responsibility to tell the truth, a responsibility to do what matters and a responsibility to be true to the very highest ideals of this profession.”

As the U.S. enters a tense standoff with her native Iran, Amanpour urged the press not to repeat its failure to rigorously question the U.S. government’s decision to go to war with another country as it did with Iraq.

Her message to the young journalism students in attendance was to follow their dreams with conviction and with awareness for the common good.

“Do well for yourselves and for your families, but consider also doing good for your communities, and for your countries and for our world […] Sitting on the sidelines, either for us or the citizenry at large, is no longer a luxury that we can afford.”

The banquet, which raised more than $170,000, benefits NAHJ’s Rubén Salazar Scholarship Fund and Educational Programs. Since the inception of the fund in 1986, NAHJ has awarded $1.3 million in scholarships

to Latino student journalists and provided over $2 million in training programs.

One of the students that has benefited from NAHJ’s programs is Nancy Moya, a senior at New Mexico State University and this year’s student speaker. During her remarks, Moya thanked NAHJ and explained how growing up in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, has shaped her world view and her passion for journalism. This year's banquet was hosted by Jim Avila, Senior Law and Justice Correspondent for ABC News, and the banquet chair was Carolyn Curiel, member of the editorial board of The New York Times.

The scholarship 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.