Cong. Honda Presents NCM Exceptional Communicator Awards; Bridging the Trust Gaps in an Increasingly Fragmented Society

Business Wire, Jan 18, 2006

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Each year New California Media recognizes three Exceptional Communicators at its annual Awards - people whose communication skills bridge the trust gaps that divide California's increasingly fragmented society.

This year's Exceptional Communicator awards winners are Hardy Brown, who 40 years ago founded the Black Voice News, a chain of black weekly newspapers to give African Americans settling in the rapidly growing suburbs of the Inland Empire a way to connect to one another and to make their voices heard;

Rick Rodriguez, Executive Editor of the Sacramento Bee, who is leading the American Society of Newspaper Editors on a groundbreaking project to pair mainstream with ethnic media reporters to cover stories neither could do as well on their own;

Former Army chaplain James Yee, a West Point graduate who ministered to Muslim prisoners in Guantanamo and chronicled his successful fight to prove his innocence against charges of spying for Al Quaeda in his new book, "For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire."

"This year's exceptional communicators exemplify the courage it takes to build truly public discourse in our global society," says Cong. Mike Honda, (D-CA). Congressman Honda, who overcame the odds of an early childhood in an internment camp during World War II to serve as an elected official for over 20 years, will present the Awards at NCM's annual banquet on Jan. 26 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose.

"This is a goal all ethnic media champion," says NCM director Sandy Close, "to ensure that everyone has a voice."

New California Media recognizes Business Wire, Black PR Wire and Hispanic PR Wire for their generous support in providing press release distribution, promoting the 7th Annual NCM Awards honoring excellence in ethnic media.