NAHJ’s Future Up In The Air

By Luis Carlos López

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — After a few years confronting mounting debt and internal conflicts, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists has a new president, ESPN coordinating producer Hugo Balta, and a new board of directors.

But the tenor between NAHJ’s board and its members has left a once-prominent national institution with scattered leadership and scars. The new board, suggests one veteran member of the 28-year-old organization, should heed Abe Lincoln’s warning that “a house divided cannot stand.”

Following this year’s UNITY convention here in Las Vegas, where big winners and losers celebrate and commiserate daily, 2,300 Latino, Asian, Native American and Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer (LGBTQ) journalists gathered Aug. 1-4.  Balta, who outpolled Associated Press reporter Russell Contreras, 154-95, said he was anxious to work with all members who believed in the organization. “It is imperative for me to surround myself with people who are supportive, but also people who are going to be constructively critical in order for me to continue to grow and to benefit all NAHJ members,” he told Weekly Report.

NAHJ’s internal scuffle was overshadowed by an elephant in the room and a similar story line.

After a 20-year partnership, the National Association of Black Journalists withdrew from UNITY. Its president, Gregory Lee, told Village Voice blogger Steven Thrasher that NABJ’s decision to quit UNITY was based on finance and not the inclusion of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, as some have alleged.

Lee said it was unfair to split the convention earnings evenly when, by his claim, NABJ attracts more than half of the registered participants.

During the convention, retiring NAHJ president Michele Salcedo called for reconciliation, asking NABJ to join the other groups at the next UNITY convention in 2016. UNITY was founded from newsroom experiences shared by NAHJ and NABJ leaders Juan González and Will Sutton. Its first convention was held in 1994.

Salcedo’s tenure brought a balanced budget to a struggling organization, with a surplus of $111,000 after resolving a debt triple that amount in the past few years. However, Salcedo and the NAHJ board had been denounced for failing to  fully disclose its financial dilemma and she was criticized for ejecting a student reporter who was tweeting updates while covering an open board meeting at the convention.

Long respected ex-president (2002-2004) Juan González refused to endorse either candidate for the presidency, sharing in an open letter his concern that neither had a cohesive, strong vision for the organization’s future.

“Your individual recovery plans to lift NAHJ out of its current crisis do not inspire the same kind of confidence. Nor does the kind of divisive election campaign you have both waged the past few months,” González said.

Following his win, Balta said he welcomed González’s comments.

González cited, “Notwithstanding all the great work of scholarships, training and advocacy we have produced for our members over several decades, our professional journalism organizations have grown too distant from our own communities in recent years. As a result, we have become less effective and less respected by the media industry than we used to be.”

Salcedo said that for the organization to survive, it must mend the internal disputes which make NAHJ look like a high school club in front of professionals and corporate sponsors.

Luis Carlos Lopez is a reporter at the Yuma Sun in Arizona. Previously he was a reporter for The Californian/El Sol of Salinas, Calif., as well as having been an editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Hispanic Link News Service.