Scripps Establishes Academy For Hispanic Journalists.

The E.W. Scripps Company announced the establishment of the Scripps Academy for Hispanic Journalists, a training and education program designed to help early-career Hispanic journalists develop the skills they need to succeed in daily newspaper careers.

“The Academy will identify, recruit, develop, place and establish career paths for top young Hispanic journalists at Scripps newspapers in support of Scripps’ commitment to the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ)
Parity Project,” said Alan Horton, senior vice president/newspapers for Scripps.

In April this year Scripps and the NAHJ announced that Scripps would be the first major media company to partner with NAHJ in its national Parity Project, the centerpiece of NAHJ’s five-year strategic plan to double the percentage of Latinos in the nation’s newsrooms by 2008. As part of the project, Scripps has launched an initiative to improve news coverage of Latinos and dramatically increase the number of qualified Latino journalists and other professionals employed on the staffs of Scripps newspapers.

“We recognized from the beginning that we could not help the NAHJ realize the goal of the Parity Project without helping to develop more Hispanic journalists,” Horton said. “Hiring experienced Hispanic journalists from other newspapers might improve the diversity in Scripps newsrooms, but it wouldn’t increase the overall number of Hispanic journalists in our nation’s newsrooms. The Scripps Academy for Hispanic Journalists will do just that.” The Academy will be located at the Rocky Mountain News in Denver under the direction of Michael Madigan, assistant managing editor of the News.

“NAHJ has been impressed and very pleased with the aggressive and innovative way the Rocky Mountain News has pursued the objectives of the Parity Project in the first six months of its involvement,” said NAHJ President Juan Gonzalez.

Gonzalez and John Temple, editor and publisher of the News, will serve on the Academy’s advisory board. Other advisory board members include Mike Phillips, Scripps editorial development director; Peter Copeland, editor and general manager of the Scripps Howard News Service, and the editors of the following Scripps newspapers:

* Tim Gallagher, Ventura County (Calif.) Star;
* Phil Lewis, Naples (Fla.) Daily News;
* Libby Averyt, Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller-Times;
* Tim Archuleta, San Angelo (Texas) Standard-Times;
* Phill Casaus, The Albuquerque Tribune.

“Locating the Scripps Academy at the News is a great decision by Scripps,” said Gonzalez. “The News is one of America’s best newspapers, and the environment of professionalism and journalistic achievement is perfect for developing the skills aspiring journalists need to succeed.”