Washington, D.C. -- The National Association of Hispanic Journalists will release its new Manual de Estilo in February, its first-ever Spanish language stylebook for U.S.-based press which promises to be an exciting new tool journalists can use to improve coverage.

The stylebook, funded by the Knight Ridder corporation, will be launched in February on a six-city tour along with a traveling workshop by its chief editor on the proper use of Spanish in news coverage in the United States. The stylebook and NAHJ-sponsored workshop are important steps in meeting the training needs of those who work in the country's growing Spanish-language media industry.

"We clearly recognize the impact and contributions made by our members and our colleagues working for the Spanish-language media in the United States and we are committed to expanding the professional development resources for them," said NAHJ President Juan González. "Spanish-language journalists have historically been in the forefront of the journalism industry in providing our nation's Hispanic community with the information they need to function in society."

This comprehensive first edition of the Manual de Estilo is an expert guide on grammar, the proper use of abbreviations and titles, and other style questions in news reporting done in Spanish. The ten-chapter guide also addresses common problems with intonation and pronunciation on the air, and the tricky craft of translating stock market terms and government jargon in a predominantly English U.S. environment.

Journalists who work in the booming and challenging Spanish-language media industry will also learn how to keep Spanglish from creeping into their work and stay away from words that may take on different - and sometimes obscene - meanings as vocabularies from a myriad of Latin American countries are forced to come together in the U.S.

NAHJ will officially launch the Manual de Estilo at several release parties throughout the country in the coming weeks. For more hands on training, NAHJ will host a series of workshops with the stylebook's chief editor and co-author, Alberto Gómez Font, a philologist and copy editor with the Efe news agency in Madrid. The four-hour sessions to be done in six cities in February will analyze common linguistic mistakes heard on the air or seen in print and offer advice on how to avoid them in the future.

With the rapid growth of the nation's Spanish-language press, NAHJ has boosted its efforts to provide professional development resources for its members and other colleagues who work primarily in Spanish. The new stylebook and the workshops in February are the next important step in this effort.

Additionally, NAHJ has increased the number of training sessions for Spanish-language journalists at its annual convention and has hosted several Spanish-language regional conferences and workshops in recent years. NAHJ's next regional Spanish-language conference will take place at Florida International University's North Campus in Miami on Feb. 7. For more information, please visit: http://www.region4nahj.org

To RSVP for a stylebook release party at or near your city, or to purchase a copy of the book for $14.95, please visit the NAHJ Web site at www.nahj.org or call 202-662-7145 for more information. The release parties, scheduled mostly for February, are set for Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Dallas and Washington, DC.

The tour of four-hour workshops by Gómez Font in February includes stops in Chicago, New York City, Berkeley, Cal., Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami and Los Angeles. And seating is limited. To register, visit the NAHJ Web site at www.nahj.org. The workshop will cost $20 for members and $30 for non-members.

The Manual de Estilo was underwritten by the Knight Ridder corporation. Liza Gross, managing editor of presentations and operations at The Miami Herald, and Javier J. Aldape, vice president at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and publisher of Diario La Estrella, were the coordinators of the publication.

The publication's co-authors include: Alberto Gómez Font, philologist and copy editor, Efe News Agency, Madrid; Raúl Caballero, editor Diario La Estrella, Fort Worth, Texas; Benito García, editor, Efe News Agency, Miami; Ruth Merino, an NAHJ board member and training coordinator for El Nuevo Día, Puerto Rico's largest daily newspaper; Lilia O'Hara, editor, Enlace newspaper in San Diego; Francisco Pérez Rivera, editor/Latin American desk, The Associated Press, New York City; and Gabriel Vélez Suau, a television producer in Puerto Rico.

NAHJ is the largest association for Hispanic journalists in the country with close to 2,000 members. Founded in 1984, the mission of the association is to increase the number of Latino journalists working in our nation's newsrooms and to improve news coverage of the nation's Latino community.