July 9, 2026 — MS NOW White House correspondent Laura Barrón-López will serve as emcee at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists annual Ñ Awards luncheon July 24 during its national conference at the New Orleans Marriott.
New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno, a former award-winning television news journalist, will speak at the awards luncheon at the conference expected to attract 1,500 Latino journalists and media professionals.
The NAHJ conference “The Beat Goes On: Honoring Our Roots and Future of Hispanic Journalism” from July 22-25 will feature more than 250 sessions and training seminars for professionals, students and academics in English and Spanish across an array of media platforms.
The Ñ Awards recognize excellence among Latino journalists across broadcast, print, digital, multimedia and digital platforms. The awards champion impactful storytelling and accurate coverage of Latino communities while elevating the role of accountability journalism.
Laura Barrón-López serves as an MS NOW White House correspondent. Before joining MS NOW, Barrón-López was a White House correspondent for the PBS NewsHour and also was a CNN political analyst.
Previously for POLITICO, Barrón-López was a national political reporter, focusing on voter demographics and policy shifts within the Democratic Party. Barrón-López also covered Congress for more than six years and three presidential campaigns at The Hill, HuffPost and POLITICO.
Barrón-López was honored with a Peabody Award in 2024 as part of the PBS NewsHour team’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.
Helena Moreno was elected mayor of New Orleans in 2025 after serving as the City Council President and in the Louisiana House of Representatives.
Before entering public service, Moreno was an award-winning investigative reporter for NBC affiliate WDSU-TV in New Orleans. She won an Emmy Award for coverage during Hurricane Katrina. The need for political reform inspired her to leave broadcasting in 2008 to pursue a career in government, starting with her election to the Louisiana Legislature in 2010.
Born in Xalapa, Mexico, Moreno moved to the United States at age 8. Her early challenges as a Spanish speaker fueled her support of underrepresented groups, particularly the New Orleans Latino population. She holds a journalism degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
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About NAHJ:
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is the largest organization of Latino journalists in the United States, dedicated to the recognition and professional advancement of Hispanics in the news industry. Established in 1984, NAHJ works to increase the number of Latinos in newsrooms and to ensure fair and accurate representation of Latino communities in media. Learn more at NAHJ.org.
For more information: communications@nahj.org