The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) inducted Rosental Alves, founder and director of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, and Alberto Ibargüen, CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, into its Hall of Fame.
Other inductees include Mindy Marques, executive editor of the Miami Herald, and investigative journalist and cofounder of the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, Mc Nelly Torres.
Rosental Alves was inducted into the NAHJ Hall of Fame in 2018. (Photo: Courtesy NAHJ)
The four journalists were honored at the 2018 NAHJ International Training Conference and Career Fair in Miami on July 21.
At the time of the announcement in May, NAHJ President Brandon Benavides said, “I am honored to announce these four candidates for Hall of Fame recognition. These outstanding journalists have pushed the meaning of journalism to new standards and have redefined the industry through their unprecedented positions and inventive ideologies.”
NAHJ called Alves, a native of Brazil, a “leader in online journalism and connecting Latin America and the United States journalism.” It highlighted his work as managing editor of Jornal do Brasil and as a foreign correspondent, as well as his teaching career at the University of Texas at Austin's School of Journalism.
He is the first Knight Chair in International Journalism and in addition to creating the Center with a grant from the Knight Foundation, he created an online distance learning platform that has trained thousands of journalists around the world.
"If the highlight of the first half of my career was my time as a foreign correspondent, working for more than a decade in Spain, Latin American countries and the United States, then the highlight of the second part, as a journalism professor, has been to help aspiring journalists and professional journalists in the Americas," Alves said at the Half of Fame induction ceremony. [Ed note: Alves' entire speech can be found below.]
"Rosental’s illuminating spirit, energetic leadership and unique style commands respect from peers and colleagues in the industry," Alberto B. Mendoza, Executive Director of NAHJ, told the Knight Center. "His career as a journalist, an educator and a connector, have made significant contributions to freedom of the press and democracy. We're honored to celebrate his excellence in training for journalists in the United States and all around Latin America."
Alberto Ibargüen is former publisher of the newspapers Miami Herald and Spanish-language El Nuevo Herald, and worked at the Hartford Courant and Newsday, as well as serving on numerous boards including PBS and the Newseum. He joined the Knight Foundation in 2005 and has focused on supporting start-ups and entrepreneurs, according to NAHJ.
"He has always been a leader for change and progressing journalism into an open community for conversation," the organization wrote.
Mindy Marques has been a pioneer at the Miami Herald, first starting as an intern and working her way to executive editor and vice president for news. "Marques is only the second woman to hold her position as executive editor and the first Hispanci editor of the Miami Herald," NAHJ noted. It also highlighted her advocacy to fight for more women in advanced journalism positions.
Award-winning investigative journalist Mc Nelly Torres has worked at five daily newspapers around the country and "uncovered local crimes and created change in communities," NAHJ wrote. Moreover, the organization said she furthers the craft by training journalists in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean.
NAHJ “is the largest organization of Latino journalists in the United States and dedicated to the recognition and professional advancement of Hispanics in the news industry,” according to its site.
NAHJ Hall of Fame acceptance speech by Rosental Calmon Alves:
I am humbled by this extraordinary recognition. After I was told by NAHJ president Brandon Benavides that I would receive the honor of being inducted to NAHJ’s Hall of Fame, I realized that this coincides with the 50th anniversary of my journalistic career. What a great coincidence! What a great gift! And what an honor to be in this group with people whom I have admired like my old friend Alberto Ibarguen, Mindy Marques and McNelly Torres.
Yes, it all started 50 years ago!
My passion for journalism was born in my high school newspaper in Rio de Janeiro in 1968. That same year, at age 16, I started my professional career, as an intern reporter for a newspaper.
I also had an early start as a journalism professor, teaching my first classes at a university when I was 21.
In the last 50 years, I’ve never worked in anything other than practicing or teaching journalism.
If the highlight of the first half of my career was my time as a foreign correspondent, working for more than a decade in Spain, Latin American countries and the United States, then the highlight of the second part, as a journalism professor, has been to help aspiring journalists and professional journalists in the Americas.
In 1996, I moved from the newsroom in Brazil to the classroom in the United States, as the first holder of the Knight Chair in International Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin.
It did not take much time for me to realize in Austin that my work should go way beyond the classroom at UT and reach out to my fellow journalists in Latin America and the Caribbean. The generous Knight Foundation also realized that and helped me create the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas in 2002.
Since then, we have been a pioneer in online teaching, reaching thousands of journalists to teach them cutting edge skills, helping them to adapt to the new media ecosystem created by the digital revolution.
In the last six years, our journalism courses in English, Spanish and Portuguese have reached more than 144,000 people from around the world.
Coming to this successful conference of NAHJ in Miami has been a blessing for me. The National Association of Hispanic Journalists gets it! I felt at home among my fellow Latino journalists interested in this rich environment of learning and career development.
In these dark days of attacks against journalism and disruption of media business models, we need more of the kind of work NAHJ is doing. It gives hope of a brilliant future for independent journalism, that is so fundamental for a functioning democracy.
Thanks, NAHJ, for this award. And thank you for your great and indispensable work to fostering diversity and good journalism in the United States.
