FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 10, 2018
NAHJ National Board of Directors makes four appointments to fill vacancies
Washington, D.C. – On Saturday afternoon, The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) National Board approved four appointments to the vacant regional position in region 2, as well as an appointment to Vice President of Print, Secretary and Spanish At Large.
“In the current climate of our industry, it is imperative to have the top quality representatives serving on our national board to represent our members in their regions and across the country,” said Hugo Balta, NAHJ President. “I look forward to working alongside these remarkably talented and dedicated journalists to not only lead our organization, but help strengthen the Fourth Estate.”
Jose Diaz is a Foreign Desk producer at CBS News coordinating international stories for programs including CBS This Morning, Evening News, and 60 Minutes. His recent fieldwork includes covering the catastrophic effects of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Diaz will serve as the Region 2 Director, covering New York and surrounding states. This appointment by the national board follows last month’s decision to appoint former Region 2 Director, Geraldine Cols Azócar to National Financial Officer.
Rafael Olmeda covers Broward criminal and civil courts for the Sun Sentinel. A graduate of Baruch College of the City University of New York, he worked for six years at the NY Daily News before joining the Sun Sentinel in 1999. He has served as president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and UNITY: Journalists of Color. Returning to lead on the national board, Olmeda will serve this term as Vice President of Print.
Mirta Ojito is the Senior Director, News Standards for Telemundo network. Since 2006, Ojito had been an assistant professor in the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She was previously a staff writer at The New York Times for more than five years, where she covered local, national and international stories and was a member of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for national reporting in a series entitled, “How Race is Lived in America.” Ojito also held various positions at The Miami Herald, beginning in 1987. She will serve as the Spanish At Large officer on the NAHJ national board.
The National Board also appointed Rodrigo Cervantes as Secretary. Cervantes is currently the KJZZ’s bureau chief in Mexico City. He has served as opinion writer, contributor and commentator for several media outlets and organizations in Mexico and the United States, including CNN, Georgia Public Broadcasting and Univisión. Cervantes also held the editor position at MundoHispánico, a division of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Georgia’s oldest and largest Latino newspaper. He had a big impact as a member of the NAHJ Atlanta Chapter and also participated as one of the first members of the Diversity Advisory Group for Cox Media.
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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 dedicated to the recognition and professional advancement of Hispanics in the news industry. 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. Established in April 1984, NAHJ created a national voice and unified vision for all Hispanic journalists. NAHJ has approximately 2,300 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.
Media Contact:
BA Snyder
Veritas Group for NAHJ
512.630.6337
BA@VeritasAustin.com