NAHJ Conference Recap

(All photos courtesy: Lockdawg)

2008 NAHJ Region 5 Conference

SAN MARCOS, Texas -- The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) held its Region 5 conference at Texas State University in San Marcos over the weekend. Many prominent journalists, broadcasters, TV personalities and bloggers from all over the region were in attendance as instructors, panelists and participants. The two day symposium which was open to all journalists and students celebrated the 200 year anniversary of Spanish-language newspapers in the United States.

The first newspaper said to be written on Texas soil was a Spanish-language newspaper, Gaceta de Texas. The paper was written in Spanish and carried the motto "La Salud del Pueblo es la Suprema Ley" ("The Safety of the People is the Supreme Law"). Rumor has it that because of a quarrel between the printer and the publisher, the printer moved his type; which had already been set and dated in Nacogdoches, Texas; to Natchitoches, Louisiana . The paper’s only issue was actually published there in May of 1813 and later moved to Texas. (1)

The NAHJ Region 5 event commenced with a town hall meeting Friday evening. "What can brown do for you?", a discussion surrounding the impact of the Latino vote in the upcoming presidential election this year highlighted the opening forum. The lightening rod immigration topic affecting Latino communities across the country was explored at the plenary on Saturday morning.


“It’s one thing to be here illegally but to be here and be part of a gang, committing criminal acts, well that’s like two strikes and you’re out!” said immigration panelist Jerry Robinette, Special agent in Charge, San Antonio.

Marisol Perez, Staff Attorney Southwest Regional Office of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) also spoke on the immigration panel. She is currently working on the Vasquez v. City of Farmers Branch case, which is challenging the validity of the Farmers Branch Ordinance 2903. She said, “We do not want our land-lords to be given, not only the task of going through hundreds of immigration documents, but also mandated and subject to a $500 fine if they don’t do it.”

At least six multi-media training sessions were held throughout the day including blogging, podcasting, and digital video for beginners and advanced, an introduction to online video and hands on video. Other sessions geared toward becoming a successful news media manager and Spanish-language media were also conducted.

Gilbert Bailon, editorial page editor at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the current president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors was the keynote speaker at the conference luncheon. He gave some importance advice to the younger journalists in the room. “Speed does not equate to quality.” On the issue of whether or not newspapers are still relevant in our increasing digital news room, he said, “Do believe the hype, part of it. The roots of what’s going on in our business are real but not all of the stuff that clutters our websites and industry trade magazines is necessarily telling us the whole story. What we need to do as journalist is to keep perspective of what’s driving these changes and not just lament the good days are gone and they’ll never be as good again.”

The event culminated with door prizes and fond farewells. Many heartfelt thanks to Dr. Federico Subervi, Gary Pina of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the entire Texas State University School of Journalism and Mass Communication Department. The entire conference was filled with cultural and cutting edge topics of study and discussions. From the food to the areas of study to the poignant issues of debate to the hotel accommodations and the 2008 NAHJ conference was conducted with un-matched professionalism and excellence.

GACETA DE TEJAS - http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/GG/eeg1.html