Earlier today, our team received the official news that the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) had honored Maria Hinojosa and Latino USA with a Presidential Award of Excellence for our Peabody Award-winning show, “Gangs, Murder and Migration in Honduras.”
NAHJ will be presenting the award to us this September 20 in Orlando, and we will have a more formal press release very soon, but I had to start sharing the news about the award, since the team is thrilled about the announcement. Also, many of you are already sending us great vibes on Facebook and Twitter.
NAHJ is proud to honor @LatinoUSA with Presidential Award of Excellence http://t.co/CJpf6bWY68
— NAHJ (@NAHJ) July 29, 2015
Luis Ruuska told us the following on Facebook: “Congratulations, you all have ALWAYS been ahead of your time bringing us stories we can’t get anywhere else. The Latino population is only going to get bigger in the coming years and other media organizations are going to try to ride that wave, but nobody will EVER bring us content like you do!”
Here are some of the earlier tweets we received:
Congrats @LatinoUSA! Very well deserved.
— Sara Gabriella (@misssarasays) July 29, 2015
@LatinoUSA @NAHJ @Maria_Hinojosa ¡felicidades!
— Diana aka LadydeeLG (@dianalimongi) July 29, 2015
@LatinoUSA @NAHJ @Maria_Hinojosa Congrats Maria and team
— J. Duran (@JavierduranEl) July 29, 2015
This afternoon, when I asked Maria for her reaction about the NAHJ news, this is what she told me:
“As the foremost Latino voice in public media and the longest running Latino-focused program in the history of U.S. radio, our entire Latino USA team is truly honored by this recognition from our peers. NAHJ helped me become the storyteller I am today. They gave me my very first Journalism award which built my confidence at a crucial moment. I will never forget that validation. I am also thrilled to be mentoring new voices that keep producing such important stories. Gracias. Thank you.”
Our team will have much more to share about the award and all the details. Stay tuned!