National Association Of Hispanic Journalists Votes To Leave UNITY

Exits UNITY

By a 13-2 vote, the board of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HISPANIC JOURNALISTS voted TUESDAY (10/23) to leave UNITY: JOURNALISTS FOR DIVERSITY, the alliance of organizations representing minority and LGBT journalists.

THE WRAP reports that NAHJ President HUGO BALTA said, "It’s a bittersweet decision.  The board believes in the concept of UNITY  but feels the organization needs to reform to meet the new challenges minority journalists are facing in an industry that is continuously changing.” BALTA noted that problems with UNITY's accounting and governance included a dispute over an overpayment to the NAHJ for the 2012 UNITY Convention. “We don’t want to be part of an organization that is not better in regards of protecting its image and that of its alliance,” he added in a comment to THE WRAP before the vote.

UNITY President DAVID STEINBERG told THE WRAP, “We are saddened by the loss of a key member of the UNITY alliance but will continue to work with NAHJ and its members in the fight to increase diversity in newsrooms and news coverage.”

The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS left UNITY in 2011.

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