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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 6, 2023
(Washington, D.C.) – The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) announced that Robert Hernandez and David Cordero Mercado will chair the programming for the NAHJ 40th Anniversary Conference and Expo scheduled for July 9-13, 2024 in Hollywood, Calif. The pair immediately opened the #NAHJ40th call for sessions.
Hernandez, a former NAHJ board member, is a professor at USC Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism, where he focuses on the intersection of emerging digital technologies and journalism. Cordero Mercado, a current NAHJ board member who was on the programming team last year, is an investigative and multimedia journalist for El Nuevo Día, Puerto Rico’s main daily, and teaches multimedia journalism at two universities.
“We are delighted to have NAHJ Hall of Famer Robert Hernandez and board member David Cordero Mercado as our programming co-chairs,” said NAHJ President Yvette Cabrera. “Their expertise encompasses cutting-edge digital technology, data journalism, investigative reporting and much more, ensuring that this event will provide powerful learning opportunities for our attendees from the U.S. and Latin America.”
With the announcement, the co-chairs opened the #NAHJ40th call for sessions, inviting both NAHJ members and non-members to submit ideas for the conference. Proposals for sessions, and general input and suggestions, can be submitted here by January 2, 2024.
Robert Hernandez, aka WebJournalist, has made a name for himself as a journalist of the Web, not just on the Web. His primary focus is exploring and developing the intersection of technology and journalism – to empower people, inform reporting and storytelling, engage community, improve distribution and, whenever possible, enhance revenue.
He is a Professor of Professional Practice at USC Annenberg, but he’s not an academic… he’s more of a “hackademic” that specializes in “MacGyvering” digital journalism through emerging technologies. His most recent work includes Augmented Reality, Wearables/Google Glass and Virtual Reality — he and his students produce VR experiences under their brand: JOVRNALISM™. Their work has won awards from The Webby Awards, The Shorty Awards, the Online News Association, Society of Professional Journalists, among others, and can be seen in Al Jazeera, The New York Times, NBC, NPR, ProPublica, USA Today and in their own iOS/Android app.
He has worked for seattletimes.com, SFGate.com, eXaminer.com, La Prensa Gráfica, among others. Hernandez is also the co-founder of #wjchat and co-creator of the Diversify Journalism Project. He has served on boards that have included Chicas Poderosas, InquireFirst, the Online News Association and the NAHJ (where he is a lifetime member). He has made it to imgur’s front page more than once. He connects dots and people.
David Cordero Mercado is an investigative and multimedia journalist in Puerto Rico. Since 2019 he is part of the Research and Data Unit of El Nuevo Día, the country’s main daily newspaper. He has been recognized on multiple occasions by the Puerto Rico Journalists Association and the Puerto Rico Chapter of the Overseas Press Club.
In academia, Cordero Mercado is an instructor of multimedia journalism at the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón and the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) Río Piedras Campus. He is a graduate of UPR and Syracuse University in New York, where he completed a master’s degree in communications, specializing in journalism innovation.
He is currently director of Region 1 on the NAHJ Board of Directors.
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About NAHJ: The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is the largest organization of Latino journalists in the United States and is dedicated to the recognition and professional advancement of Hispanics in the news industry. Established in April 1984, NAHJ created a national voice and unified vision for all Hispanic journalists. The mission of NAHJ is to increase the number of Latinos in the newsrooms and to work toward fair and accurate representation of Latinos in news media. NAHJ has over 4,000 members, including working jomurnalists, journalism students, other media-related professionals and journalism educators. For ore information please visit NAHJ.org or follow on X @NAHJ.
Media Contact:
Andrew Sherry
asherry@nahj.org
305.954.7571