Juan Gonzalez – New York Daily News Columnist Elected NAHJ President.

Juan Gonzalez, a columnist for the New York Daily News, was elected president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists during the association’s 20th annual convention in San Diego, June 12-15.

Gonzalez defeated Marilyn Garateix (203 to 146), education editor for the Boston Globe and the association’s former vice president of print. The results of the election were announced Saturday, June 15, during the association’s annual journalism awards gala.

Gonzalez is one the founders of the association and co-founder of UNITY: Journalists of Color.

Gonzalez stated during his campaign that the NAHJ must address the decline in journalism in the United States if it hopes to improve the industry’s record of hiring Latino journalists and coverage of the nation’s Latino community.

“The NAHJ will become a more forceful voice in the journalism profession and media industry, not only in advocating for equal opportunity, but advocating for improving the standards and quality of news and information in the country,” said Gonzalez.

In other election results: Arizona Daily Star business writer Jonathan Higuera was voted in as the organization’s Vice President for Print; Art Rascon, an anchor and reporter for KTRK-TV in Houston, Vice President of Broadcast; Javier Aldape, publisher for La Estrella in Fort Worth, Financial Officer, and San Jose Mercury News race and demographics editor Anne L. Vasquez, secretary.

In other results, Michele Salcedo, an assistant news editor for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel was elected the General At-Large Officer; Liza Gross, executive managing editor of El Nuevo Dia, was selected the Spanish-language At-Large Officer; John Garcia, vice president for content and programming online for NBC, was selected the at-large online officer and Rosa Ramirez, a student at George Washington University and intern at Hispanic Link News Service, was voted in as the at-large student representative (non-voting). NAHJ celebrated its 20th annual convention by returning to San Diego, the site of the first conference of Hispanic media professionals in 1982. NAHJ was founded as a result of that convention two years later.

For more information at http://www.nahj.org