Called Out for Coziness
SAN DIEGO -- The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is getting good at producing embarrassing headlines.
Last year, at the NAHJ's conference in Anaheim, Calif., the organization's leaders rolled over and allowed one of the panelists -- John Perez, then the Democratic speaker of the California Assembly -- to exclude Republican political consultant Hector Barajas.
Last week, as the NAHJ met in San Antonio, 84-year-old Charlie Ericksen, one of the group's co-founders, kicked up some dust when he said it was "kind of a farce" for the organization to honor Fox News with an NAHJ Media Award.
The group seemed impressed by the fact that the conservative network launched FoxNewsLatino.com a few years ago. Still, it certainly didn't hurt that Fox News Channel and Fox News Latino sponsored the conference.
Hugo Balta, outgoing NAHJ president, apologized for Ericksen's outburst to Fox News Vice President Francisco Cortes, who accepted the award.
"I want to personally apologize to you, Fox and the Fox family for what is . . . unacceptable," Balta said to Cortes from the stage. "I will not allow any of our guests to be singled out or be insulted in this way."
Where was this chivalry last year when, during Balta's reign, Barajas was barred from the panel?
Ericksen later said that what concerned him was the lack of Hispanics on air at networks such as Fox News, and the fact that the overall number of Hispanic journalists employed by media companies has declined in recent years.
He makes a good point. For all their talk about diversity, major newspapers, TV networks and online news sites have -- in cutting back on staff -- laid off many journalists of color.
Still, Ericksen considers himself a leftist and so he's also probably bothered by the fact that Fox News doesn't share his slant.
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