San Jose Mercury News Joins NAHJ’s Parity Project

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is proud to announce that the San Jose Mercury News will join the association’s Parity Project, becoming the 25th media outlet in the initiative.

Created in 2003, NAHJ’s Parity Project works with English-language media companies serving large Latino populations to increase their Latino newsroom representation and to improve news coverage of the Latino community.

NAHJ and the Mercury News will launch the new Parity Project initiative on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2007. The launch will include a town hall meeting that will bring local Latino leaders and newsroom staff together to discuss issues affecting the community. The goal of the meeting is to help the Mercury News develop a closer relationship with the Latino community. In addition, the launch will include cultural awareness training for the newsroom staff.

"We're very excited to become NAHJ's latest Parity Project partner,’’ said Susan Goldberg, executive editor of the Mercury News. “It's something that will benefit our newsroom and our community. And, ultimately, it will enhance our journalism."

The Mercury News will join the Parity Project shortly preceding NAHJ’s 25th anniversary convention in San Jose, Calif., June 13-16, 2007. “Latinos play a vital role in every aspect of life in San Jose,” said Kevin Olivas, NAHJ’s Parity Project Director. “That is why it is so imperative to have more news organizations like the San Jose Mercury News involved in NAHJ’s Parity Project. We look forward to working with the management, editors and news staff of this newspaper to help it to hire more Latino journalists while also assisting it with establishing even stronger ties than it already has with the Latino community.”

The San Jose Mercury News is a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper and online news site with more than 2 million unique monthly visitors that delivers to the heart of the Silicon Valley, San Jose and beyond. With a paid daily circulation of 242,865 and a Sunday circulation of 263,373, the San Jose Mercury News is recognized as one of the nation’s best dailies and is a must-read for local news, entertainment, sports and business.

Since its inception, the Parity Project has worked closely with 24 media organizations that include outlets owned by the E.W. Scripps Co., Viacom, Media General, Tribune Co. and MediaNews Group Inc., which owns the San Jose Mercury News. MediaNews Group Inc. also owns The Salt Lake Tribune and The Los Angeles Daily News, both newspapers that have already joined the Parity Project.