California Latino journalist organization relocates to ASU

CCNMA: Latino Journalists of California, the nation’s oldest regional association of journalists of color, is relocating to Arizona State University’s newly opened California offices in Santa Monica in affiliation with the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

“CCNMA is pleased to have found a new partnership with such a prominent program as the Cronkite School,” said Julio Moran, executive director. “We look forward to developing joint projects that further our mission of developing Latino journalists, diversifying our nation's newsrooms and ensuring that news coverage of Latinos is fair and accurate.”

The announcement of the move comes on the same day that CCNMA is being inducted into the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ Hall of Fame at the UNITY Journalists convention in Las Vegas. The event is the quadrennial gathering of the four national journalism organizations comprising the UNITY coalition – NAHJ, the Asian American Journalists Association, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and the Native American Journalists Association.

“We’re so honored to be able to partner with ASU,” said CCNMA President Yvette Cabrera. “We couldn’t think of a more appropriate partner as we move forward.”

Cabrera said the organization is looking forward to the opportunity to expand its reach to Arizona and the Southwest.

“We’re excited that we’re going beyond (California’s) borders,” she said.

Founded in 1972 in Los Angeles as the California Chicano News Media Association, CCNMA provides educational and financial assistance to journalism students, offers development opportunities to media professionals, helps media outlets increase the diversity of their newsrooms and ensures accurate and fair news coverage of communities of color.

CCNMA has awarded more than $800,000 in scholarships to more than 800 Latino students pursuing careers in journalism since 1976. The association also operates professional development workshops and seminars, an awards program and the West Coast’s largest annual job fair for journalists of color. CCNMA, which had been located at the University of Southern California, has 300 members and chapters in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose and Bakersfield/Fresno.

The Cronkite School, named in honor of the longtime CBS News anchor in 1984, prepares the next generation of journalists in both the time-honored fundamentals embraced by Cronkite and the multimedia skills necessary to thrive as journalists in the digital age. The school recently received ASU’s inaugural College Award for Contributions to Institutional Inclusion in recognition of its efforts to advance diversity and inclusion at the institutional level.

Cronkite programs include Cronkite NewsWatch, a nightly newscast on Arizona PBS; the regional multimedia news provider Cronkite News Service; the New Media Innovation Lab; a Spanish-language newscast in partnership with Univision in Phoenix and a borderlands in-depth reporting program led by former Sacramento Bee Executive Editor Rick Rodriguez. The school also works closely with the Arizona Latino Media Association on a variety of high school and professional initiatives and operates the Cronkite High School Journalism Institute led by former ALMA President Anita Luera.

“We’re delighted to enter into this partnership with CCNMA, which has been one of our field’s great leaders in efforts to diversify our nation’s newsrooms and its news products,” said Cronkite Dean Christopher Callahan. “We’re looking forward to working with Julio Moran and the CCNMA board on new projects and initiatives to continue to grow that outstanding work.”