LOS ANGELES, July 13, 2024 – The National Association of Hispanic Journalists inducted Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews, Steve Padilla, Rafael Prieto Zartha and John Quiñones into the 2024 NAHJ Hall of Fame during the closing Gala of the NAHJ 40th Anniversary Conference and Expo.
Just ahead of the HOF induction, outgoing NAHJ President Yvette Cabrera bestowed special awards on four individuals and organizations who have provided exceptional support for Latinos in news.
In a moving exchange, Cabrera presented the President’s Award to Susan Paterno, her college journalism professor. Paterno currently heads the journalism department at Chapman University, while Cabrera went on to be an award-winning investigative environmental journalist. The other awards went to the Los Angeles Times Latino Caucus, a California press freedom coalition, and the producers of a film about the deadly cost of journalism in Mexico.
Every year, NAHJ proudly recognizes individuals who have courageously upheld its mission to expand the number of Latinos in newsrooms and improve coverage of Latino communities. This year’s HOF inductees represent trailblazing leadership and support that spans NAHJ’s four decades.
2024 Hall of Fame
Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews was the first Latina president of CBS News. She stepped down from the position this week but said she would stay on through the fall to direct election coverage, a culmination of more than 30 years at CBS. “By any measure, Ingrid is a great news leader,” said a letter nominating the award-winning journalist. “Her career is steeped in leading teams in how to tell global, diverse stories that strike at the core of our country’s heart. She often credits growing up in a Dominican household for helping her gain a global world view.”
John Quiñones is an ABC News correspondent who reports across“20/20,” “Nightline” and “Good Morning America.” In four decades with the network, he has earned seven national Emmys and numerous other awards. His Spanish-speaking ability and cultural insights have helped him break local and international stories and introduce national audiences to nuanced and important coverage. A former farmworker, he built a trailblazing, stellar career in TV news while always embracing his role as a model and mentor for Latino journalists.
Rafael Prieto Zartha is founder of NAHJ, the national organization conceived at a meeting of the California Chicano News Media Association he helped organize in 1982, just three years after he immigrated to the U.S. from Colombia. Reporting for leading Spanish-language outlets, he has earned several national awards, including NAHJ’s 2007 Ñ Award for commentary for writing that “responded to those who sought to demonize undocumented immigrants with wit and indisputable fact.”
Steve Padilla is editor of the Los Angeles Times showcase feature Column One. For generations of journalists, he’s best known as a writing coach. “For decades,the Los Angeles Times’ Steve Padilla has been making reporters better,” a nomination letter read. “Across the country you will find journalists who have been coached by Steve one-on-one or who attended one of his invigorating writing lectures. He’s conducted workshops for CCNMA, NAHJ, National Press Club Journalism Institute, Poynter, Maynard Institute and press clubs up and down the West Coast.”
Members of NAHJ’s Hall of Fame are leaders, mentors and pioneers in the field, practicing journalistic values with distinction and inspiring others to do the same.
Special Awards
President’s Award – Prof. Susan Paterno, head of the journalism department at Chapman University, who had a pivotal impact on Cabrera as a journalism student.
Dale Award – Los Angeles Times Latino Caucus, represented by chairs Melissa Gomez and Karen Garcia. The caucus has advocated relentlessly for the city’s largest newspaper to have a newsroom that is representative of the community it covers, which is nearly half Latino.
Si Se Puede Award – Matt Pearce, President, Media Guild of the West; Julie Patel, president of Asian American Journalists Association-Los Angeles; Ashanti Blaize-Hopkins, President, Society of Professional Journalists national board of directors; Adam Rose, secretary of the Los Angeles Press Club. They are the spokespeople for the coalition that successfully advocated for the passage of California SB 98 protecting journalists’ right to cover protests and which continues to advocate on vital press freedom issues.
Impact Award – Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal, whose documentary “State of Silence” exposed the systematic killing of journalists practicing their profession in Mexico, and the impunity of the perpetrators.
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About the National Association of Hispanic Journalists
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 3,600 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.
Press contact: Andrew Sherry, asherry@nahj.org, (305) 954-7571