The New England chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) created the Emerging Journalists Fellowship to send early-career journalists to the 2023 NAHJ national convention. The fellowship program is designed to mentor these fellows and inspire them through the life-changing support of NAHJ. 

The chapter is using a portion of the funds it raised last year to send six amazing young journalists to the NAHJ International Training Convention & Expo in Miami July 12-16. After an application process, the winners of this competitive fellowship are: 

• Natalia Pérez-González, a freelance journalist based in Worcester, Mass.
• Lau Guzmán, a reporter for the Meriden, CT, Record-Journal and a Report for America member.
• Ezekiel Telemaco, a journalist and producer for WEEI radio in Boston.
• Jacob Garcia, a Newsroom Fellow at WBUR in Boston.
• Ana Luque, a rising junior majoring in journalism at Emerson College in Boston.
• Jaeel Beato, a rising sophomore majoring in journalism at Emerson College

“Journalism is an intense industry and for young journalists to thrive, they need mentoring and to be able to network with people who look like them and share their culture and background,” said Cindy E. Rodriguez, the president of NAHJ New England. “They need to see that there are others like them who are making it in journalism. The workshops, panels and plenary sessions offered at the NAHJ convention are catered to Latinos and not offered at this scale anywhere else.” 

“For many of our members, attending the conference may be cost prohibitive, and that is especially true of students, recent graduates and early-career professionals,” said Cristela Guerra, the vice president of NAHJ New England. “This is one huge way we can support these fantastic journalists.” 

“We’re not just sending them -– we plan to mentor these young journalists and make sure they make the most out of their time there,” said Vanessa de la Torre, the financial officer of NAHJ New England. “We will also follow up with the fellows when we return from Miami to continue to support their promising journalism careers.”

NAHJ New England wants to thank the NAHJ staff and in particular Executive Director David Peña Jr., Senior Director of Training & Membership Yaneth Guillen-Diaz and Director of Next Gen. Initiatives Leslie-Anne Frank for their help in coordinating logistics, making it easier for us to book flights and pay for lodging using our chapter funds. We are especially grateful to our financial officer, Vanessa de la Torre, who helped the board raise more than $10,000 this past year through our #EnHoraBuena series. 

Download full press release

In a press release on June 15 the News/Media Alliance applauds the  Senate Judiciary for passing the bipartisan Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA).

The Senate Judiciary Committee has favorably voted 14-7 for the bipartisan Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) (S. 1094), which would allow digital journalism providers to collectively negotiate with Google and Facebook for fair compensation for use of their valuable content. The tech platforms are the dominant distributors of news content, reaping tremendous financial benefit without compensation to those who create the content. They also capture the majority of U.S. digital ad revenue, leaving local publishers with little to reinvest in the production of high-quality journalism.

“For too long, Big Tech has profited from using news content on their platforms, without paying the creators of that content. The JCPA will give small and local publishers a seat at the table and channel critical revenue to them to help sustain the high-quality journalism Americans need and depend on,” said News/Media Alliance President & CEO Danielle Coffey. “We applaud Chairwoman Klobuchar and Senator Kennedy for their enduring commitment to preserving journalism and their ongoing support of the JCPA. We applaud the Senate Judiciary Committee’s passage of this monumental legislation for journalism publishers across our country.”

The JCPA has broad support, not only in Congress in both the House and the Senate (16 co-sponsors in the 118th Congress to date, on both sides of the aisle, with 90 total co-sponsors in the previous Congress), but also from over 300 consumer interest groups, unions, conservatives, advocacy groups and third-party organizations that have sent letters of support for the JCPA to the bill sponsors.

In January, seven leading journalism, media, and pro-consumer antitrust advocacy organizations – including the News/Media Alliance, National Newspaper Association, America’s Newspapers, Authors Guild, American Economic Liberties Project, Inter American Press Association, and the Radio Television Digital News Association – sent a joint letter to President Biden urging him to call on Congress to advance the JCPA. The letter outlines the plight of local news, in which news publishers have been forced to play by Big Tech’s rules of the digital advertising playing field for years, resulting in the loss of more than a quarter of U.S. newspapers since 2005 and the spread of news deserts across the country. In their letter, the groups underscore the importance of passing the JCPA as the best solution to ensuring news publishers are compensated fairly for use of their content by the dominant tech platforms.

In addition, over 24,000 individuals have signed a Change.org petition for the bill and over 1,000 editorials and op-eds in support of the JCPA have been published in newspapers in 48 states across the country. In a poll of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted last spring by Schoen Cooperman Research for the News/Media Alliance, 70 percent of Americans said they support Congress passing the JCPA.

Claims made about the bill by the opposition are unfounded and not supported by the text of the legislation. Under the JCPA, jobs will be created; news outlets will publicly disclose funds received and how it is spent; payment will not be required for links; and platforms will not be forced to carry extreme content. The JCPA will lead to open and vetted compensation for digital journalism outlets for the fair market value the platforms receive. The Myths and Facts around these claims are important to honest and productive discourse.

The Alliance thanks Senator Klobuchar, Senator Kennedy, and all of the co-sponsors of this bill for their leadership in pursuing this legislation and for their commitment to a free press.

The markup proceedings can be viewed here.

The News/Media Alliance is a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,000 news and magazine media organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally. Alliance members include print and digital publishers of original journalism. Headquartered just outside Washington, D.C., the association focuses on ensuring the future of journalism through communication, research, advocacy, and innovation. Information about the News/Media Alliance can be found at www.newsmediaalliance.org.

Congratulations to all the 2022 New England Better Newspaper Competition Award winners! We are excited to release the full list of winners with the judges’ comments included.

This year’s competition drew nearly 2,000 entries that were published during the contest year August 1, 2021 – July 31, 2022. The entries were evaluated by the New England Newspaper & Press Association’s distinguished panel of judges and were presented on May 6, 2023, during the New England Newspaper Convention.

Entries were judged in seven categories:

• Colleges and Universities
• Weekly Newspapers with a circulation of up to 5,000
• Weekly Newspapers with a circulation of more than 5,000
• Specialty and Niche Publications
• News Services and Online News Sites
• Daily Newspapers with a circulation of up to 15,000
• Daily Newspapers with a circulation of more than 15,000

The results of the competition listed here recognize the excellent reporting, writing, revenue, and audience-building activities that are taking place throughout New England — the finalists and winners are listed, along with the judges’ comments. NENPA is proud to celebrate this truly extraordinary work!

If you have any questions about the results please contact NENPA executive director, Linda Conway at l.conway@nenpa.com.

DOWNLOAD 2022 BNC WINNERS NOW!

The NorthEast Association of Communication Executives (NEACE) is delighted to announce the appointment of its new board of directors. Comprised of accomplished professionals and industry leaders, the newly appointed board members bring a wealth of experience and expertise to guide NEACE in its mission of promoting industry education and advancing collaboration.

The following individuals have been appointed to the NEACE Board of Directors:

• President — Jim Falzone, North of Boston Media Group
• Executive Vice President —Kurt Charbonnier, Boston Globe
• Vice President — Gary Lavariere, Berkshire Eagle
• Chairman of the Board — Lori Rahill, Dow Jones
• Secretary — John Brennan, retired industry veteran
• Treasurer — Ed Winters, Republican-American
• Director — Carol Dubuque, Concord Monitor
• Director — John Harrison, Wallit, Inc.
• Director — Jordan Brechenser, Vermont News and Media
• Director — Kevin Lamagdelaine, Media News Group
• Director — Jeff Defrancisco, Newspapers of New England

“We are thrilled to welcome our new and returning board members to NEACE. Each of them brings unique skills and perspectives that will undoubtedly enrich our organization’s mission,” said Jim Falzone, NEACE President.  “Their collective experience and dedication will be instrumental in driving the future growth and success of NEACE.

As members of the NEACE board of directors, these individuals will provide strategic guidance, oversee policy development and contribute to the overall governance of NEACE. They will work collaboratively with other stakeholders, including association members, vendors and publishing companies, to foster meaningful partnerships and drive initiatives that support the advancement of our industry.

NEACE extends its sincere appreciation to the outgoing board members for their valuable contributions and unwavering commitment to the organization’s goals.  Special thanks to 2022 NEACE President Lori Rahill for her exceptional leadership this past year.

About the NorthEast Association of Communication Executives:

The NorthEast Association of Communication Executives (NEACE) is a renowned media organization dedicated to providing educational and networking opportunities to publishing companies across the Northeast.   Through its innovative programs and initiatives, NEACE strives to support and advance local news organizations. For more information about NEACE, please visit www.NEACE.com.

In recent years, Massachusetts legislators have stepped up efforts to remove public notices from newspapers. One argument they increasingly advance is that newspaper closings and shrinking circulations have resulted in a lack of coverage of certain geographic areas of the state and dwindling readership throughout the state.

In order to present an accurate picture of the scope of combined print and digital newspaper readership in Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association (MNPA) is conducting this survey with Massachusetts publishers and asking for your cooperation in participating.

Individual newspapers’ responses will not be shared publicly or among other publishers. The data collected will be aggregated via this survey and create charts and graphics showing our overall reach throughout the state. No publisher will see any other publisher’s individual information except in the final aggregated format.

Completing this survey is in the best interests of all of us. It will help the MNPA in its ongoing legislative battle to keep public notices in newspapers.

You may complete separate surveys for each title you publish or group them together. If the latter, please provide the titles of each newspaper in the group.

The deadline to complete the survey is Thursday, June 15, 2023.

Note that several sections of this survey ask for county-by-county information. We are asking for this information in order to create an accurate statewide picture of newspapers’ geographic coverage. If you have this information in a different format, such as by cities or zip codes, are you are not able to easily convert it to counties, please let us know.

TAKE THE SURVEY

If you have any questions or comments, please contact Robert Ambrogi, Esq., Executive Director, Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association by email at ambrogi@legaline.com or by phone at (978) 317-0972.