Joanna Hernandez, current vice president of UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. (UNITY), has been elected president of the organization.  (See UNITY Press Release)

Ms. Hernandez was elected by UNITY’s board of directors at its fall board meeting this past weekend. Sharon Chan, president of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) was elected vice president, Leisa Richardson of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) was elected secretary, and Michaela Saunders, current UNITY secretary of the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) was elected treasurer.

Their two-year terms begin on January 1, 2011.

“I am honored to serve UNITY with such a phenomenal team at this critical time in our industry,” Ms. Hernandez said. “I am looking forward to strengthening our alliance and working closely with the industry to advance UNITY’s mission of increasing diversity and seeking fair coverage of people of color and our communities.”

In addition to being the immediate past vice president of UNITY, Ms. Hernandez has served as a director on both the UNITY and NAHJ board of directors. She is a Multiplatform Editor at The Washington Post and an adjunct professor at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. Ms. Hernandez previously was director of the Features Production Center for The New York Times Regional Media Group; held several newsroom positions while at The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J.; has worked as a copy editor in several newsrooms, including The Record and Herald News in Northern New Jersey, the San Francisco Examiner, and Newsday on Long Island, N.Y.; and began her journalism career as a reporter in Connecticut. She has a journalism degree from New York University and is a graduate of the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education management training program.

“The leadership of UNITY Journalist of Color accomplished much in the past year by focusing on advocacy, policy, and protecting the freedom of journalists globally. We worked to secure relationships with publishers and broadcasters to protect jobs and pushed for diversity in newsrooms everywhere. Better still we provided journalists the tools to be their own boss through our New U training program. It’s a good start but there are economic challenges that lay ahead that will require a steady hand to steer us toward continued success,” said Barbara Ciara, outgoing UNITY president.

Antonio Sanfuentes, Vice President and Deputy Bureau Chief at NBC News Washington, and Camille Edwards, Vice President of News at NBC 4, spoke at the first NAHJ Washington, D.C. Chapter meeting on Tuesday, September 14. The meeting was held at the NBC studios on Wisconsin Avenue in Northwest.

The meeting was a wide ranging discussion on the value of diversity, the need for behind the scenes journalists, and the basics of negotiating a contract in the tough economy.

Both managers said they have a hard time finding well-qualified off-air producers.  Edwards said she receives manyresumes for on-air reporters but struggles to find good producers. Sanfuentes said he is looking for interns who are interested in learning how the NBC bureau works. He created a program to track interns in hopes they could become a potential hire.

NBC Local and Network are looking for interns. Visit our Job/Internship page for details.

Check out the Jobs/Internships page for 7 new Washington area jobs.
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