The New York Times Student Journalism Institute Accepts Twenty Students into its Annual Program

Business Wire, Dec 12, 2007

Seminar Offered in Collaboration with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists

NEW YORK -- The New York Times Student Journalism Institute announced today the list of participants admitted into its annual program with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), to be held Jan. 2 to 13, 2008, at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

The Institute is an 11-day, hands-on journalism residency program offered to aspiring reporters, editors, photographers and designers who are student members of the NAHJ. The students were competitively selected based on an essay they wrote, clips or portfolios they submitted and their previous journalism experience. They will be offered the opportunity to sharpen their writing, reporting, editing, photography and multimedia skills while covering current events in the Tucson area and working under newsroom deadlines. They will learn from professional journalists from The New York Times, The Boston Globe and the Times Company's Regional Media Group.

Students will maintain a Web site (www.nytimes-institute.com) and produce a newspaper containing the best work generated during the program.

"The Times is delighted to again offer this program in conjunction with the NAHJ," said Jill Abramson, managing editor, The New York Times. "In this ever-changing media landscape, programs like this Institute are essential to help newsrooms across the country recruit young talented journalists from diverse backgrounds."

"The kind of training this program provides is essential to making sure that more of our aspiring Latino journalists get into newsrooms," said Ivan Roman, executive director, National Association of Hispanic Journalists. "The country's rapid demographic changes make bringing more of our voices and perspectives to the news media even more urgent than ever before. So we're happy this can give a boost to the careers of our younger brothers and sisters."

The 20 students selected for this year's program represent 16 colleges and universities from around the country. The program accepts applications from promising students in good academic standing who have worked for at least one semester on a student publication, or as an intern or employee of a news organization.

This year's students are: Yolanne Almanzar, Florida International University; Nicolas Barajas, Ithaca College; Julian Cavazos, Brigham Young University; Arcynta Ali Childs, New York University; Fernanda Echavarri, University of Arizona; Astrid K. Galvan, Arizona State University; Brian Anthony Hernandez, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Lauren E. LePage, University of Arizona; Mariana Minaya, University of Maryland, College Park; Aaron Montoya, Colorado State University; Tracie Morales, University of Texas, Arlington; Nathan Olivarez-Giles, University of Arizona; Jose Pagliery, Florida International University; Marlene Peralta, City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism; Jennifer L. Perez, University of Central Florida; Elizabeth Ann Perez, University of Texas, Brownsville; Solange Reyner, University of Miami; Rick A. Rojas, Texas A&M University; Roxana Vasquez, University of Arizona; and James Wagner, University of Virginia.

The New York Times Student Journalism Institute offers two programs each year. In cooperation with the Black College Communications Association, an Institute is held each May at Dillard University in New Orleans. That program was created in 2003 for journalism students at historically black colleges and universities, and now also accepts student members of the National Association of Black Journalists. In 2007 a second program was inaugurated in collaboration with NAHJ and designed for its student members. That program is held each January, alternating between the University of Arizona in Tucson and Florida International University in Miami. The Student Journalism Institute now has 170 graduates, more than a dozen of whom have been hired full time at Times Company newspapers; others have gone to such newspapers as The Detroit Free Press, USA Today and The Washington Post as well as a number of small and medium-size publications.

About The New York Times Company

The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading media company with 2006 revenues of $3.3 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 15 other daily newspapers, WQXR-FM and more than 30 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Boston.com and About.com. The Company's core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.

About National Association of Hispanic Journalists

Founded in 1984, NAHJ's mission is to increase the percentage of Latinos working in our nation's newsrooms and to improve news coverage of the Latino community. NAHJ is the nation's largest professional organization for Latino journalists, with more than 2,300 members working in English and Spanish-language print, photo, broadcast and online media. NAHJ is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization. For more information, visit www.nahj.org.