FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 6, 2023
(Miami, FL) – July 12, 2023 – The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) announces the recipients of this year’s 2023 NAHJ Special Awards to be presented at the 2023 Hall of Fame Gala on July 15, 2023 during the NAHJ International Training Convention & Expo at the InterContinental Hotel in Miami, FL.
The 2023 Special Awards recipients are: Univision’s Ilia Calderón will receive the NAHJ Sí Se Puede Award, NBC Miami’s John Morales will be awarded the NAHJ Impact Award, The Washington Post’s Efrain Hernandez Jr. will be honored with the NAHJ President’s Award and retired Los Angeles Times fashion journalist Michael Quintanilla to receive the NAHJ Dalé Award.
Univision’s Ilia Calderón will receive the NAHJ Sí Se Puede Award for her tireless commitment to Latinos in the news industry forward and for bravely addressing issues of racism and colorism within the broader society. Her advocacy for more representation of Afro-Latinos in journalism not only celebrates our diversity, but also ensures that the next generation of journalists is given the opportunity to succeed. Ilia Calderón was the first Afro-Latina to host a national news program in her native Colombia. After moving to Florida in 2001, she became a co-anchor of Telemundo’s weekend show. In 2017, Ilia joined Univision as a co-host of Noticiero Univision and Aquí y Ahora, becoming the first Afro-Latina to co-anchor at a major news desk in the U.S. During that time, she won two Emmys for her courageous work, at times putting her own safety at risk. She has described her role as a journalist as one that holds people in power accountable, especially in matters related to civil and human rights. Calderón’s other awards and recognitions include: being named one of Carnegie Corporation’s Great Immigrants, Great Americans in 2019, as well as one of the 100 most important Hispanic journalists by the Hispanic Media 100 organization in 2002. In 2020 Calderon published her first book, “My Time to Speak: Reclaiming Ancestry and Confronting Race,” an inspiring, timely, and conversation-starting memoir.
NBC Miami’s John Morales will be awarded the NAHJ Impact Award for his pioneering approach to covering the weather through the lens of climate change both in English and Spanish language media. In this unprecedented moment in history, as we experience the massive shifts in climate patterns due to global warming, he has played a pivotal role warning audiences about the immediate dangers from extreme weather disasters, and serving as an indispensable interpreter providing the scientific context, climate research, and analysis to help people understand the role that global warming has played in our increasingly turbulent environment. John Morales has been creating impact through his role as a meteorologist for more than three decades – the longest serving broadcast meteorologist in South Florida. He has provided critical information and steered viewers through hurricane after hurricane. He has worked with the U.S. National Weather Service in his mother’s native Puerto Rico, at the National Center for Environmental Predictions and several television stations. In fact, John was the first Latino to serve as a substitute meteorologist on the Today Show. John has been honored for his achievements throughout his career, earning several major awards, including Emmys and the AMS Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Advance of Applied Meteorology, a prestigious honor in the scientific community. In 2022, John stepped away from his role as an everyday chief meteorologist and now serves as NBC Miami station WTVJ NBC-6’s first ever hurricane specialist.
The Washington Post’s Efrain Hernandez Jr. will be honored with the NAHJ President’s Award given to those who have had a significant impact on the president’s career and NAHJ trajectory. NAHJ’s president Yvette Cabrera met Hernandez in the late 1990s and served alongside Hernandez on the statewide CCNMA board of directors, where she served first as board secretary, vice president, and eventually as president of the journalism nonprofit board. Hernandez became a role model and inspiration for Cabrera, embodying all the qualities of an effective leader through his unwavering commitment to the pursuit of newsroom diversity.
“Efrain’s integrity and fortitude taught me to always strive for the highest standards, whether we were calling for newsroom parity or seeking to open doors for the next generation of Latino journalists,” said Cabrera. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without Efrain, whose quiet perseverance taught me that the most effective leaders inspire action through diligent work, clear purpose and a willingness to stay the course no matter the challenge.”
Efrain Hernandez Jr. is Deputy National Security, Justice and Immigration Editor at The Washington Post. Efrain joined the Post in May 2022 from the Los Angeles Times, where he worked beginning in 1994 as a staff writer and editor on the Metro, Foreign and National desks. Efrain was director from 2002 to 2007 of the Minority Editorial Training Program. Before the Times, Efrain was a staff reporter and assistant city editor at The Boston Globe. He also co-hosted/co-produced a news program at WLVI-TV56. Before the Globe, Efrain was a staff writer at The Hartford Courant and a staff reporter at Hispanic Link News Service. Efrain has worked on several Pulitzer Prize-winning teams, and also served as a Pulitzer judge in 2018 and 2019. He is a longtime member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, a member and former board member of CCNMA-Latino Journalists of California, a former board member of the New England Press Assn. (NEPA), representing NAHJ on that board, and a member of Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Society of Professional Journalists and the L.A. Press Club.
Retired fashion journalist Michael Quintanilla to receive the NAHJ Dalé Award, given to those who have advocated for the fair representation of Latinos in the media. His approach to covering vulnerable and marginalized communities is an inspiration. He exemplifies all that we should aspire to achieve as journalists to accurately and compassionately represent the diversity of our Latino community. Michael Quintanilla is a former reporter for the Los Angeles Times, San Antonio Express-News, Dallas Morning News, Dallas Times-Herald, and El Paso Herald-Post. His award-winning journalism tapped his strengths as a fashion-loving, gay, Mexican American kid from the barrio of San Antonio’s South Side who wrote narratives centered on the human experience that could bring readers to tears just as easily as make them laugh. Michael was named feature writer of the year by both the Los Angeles Times and the California Newspaper Publishers Association. He also has been recognized by the San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists as one of its Lifetime Achievement award winners and was the first San Antonio Fashion Week Icon Award of Excellence recipient. He has sat front row at runways in New York, Milan and Paris, writing about international fashion weeks. He also contributed reporting about the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the 1994 Northridge earthquake, works that earned the Times two Pulitzer Prizes. He is the author and performer of “Confessions of a Former Disco Maniac,” his acclaimed one-man show about writing that has taken him from Hollywood to Harvard, performing before college audiences and fellow journalists.
The NAHJ 2023 special awards recipients join previously announced Hall of Fame inductees: Alfredo Corchado, Mexico Bureau Chief for the Dallas Morning News; Angela Kocherga, News Director at KTEP; Lori Montenegro, Noticias Telemundo D.C. Bureau Chief; and Enrique Flor Zapler, Investigative Reporter at El Nuevo Herald (posthumous).
Registered attendees of the #NAHJ2023 International Training Convention & Expo may purchase a separate ticket to the Hall of Fame Gala on July 15, 2023 here.
About NAHJ: The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) 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 4,300 members, including working journalists, journalism students, other media-related professionals and journalism educators.
For more information please visit NAHJ.org or follow on Twitter @NAHJ.
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About NAHJ:
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) 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 more than 3,500 members, including working journalists, journalism students, other media-related professionals and journalism educators. For more information please visit NAHJ.org or follow on Twitter @NAHJ.
Media Contact:
Pepe Xicohténcatl
Tapiz Media Group
NAHJ@TapizMedia.com