NAHJ elects new leadership

Almost all the seats up for grabs on the board of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists were uncontested – except that of the VP of Broadcast. Here are the results of the election revealed on Friday evening, during the UNITY convention:

Ricardo Pimentel is the new president. He is currently the editorial page editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – a post he’s held since June of 2004. Before that, he was a nationally syndicated columnist with The Arizona Republic, writing on public policy with an emphasis on Latino affairs. Ricardo has also been a reporter at The Fresno Bee, The San Diego Union, The Sacramento Bee and a Washington D.C. correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers. He also worked as asst. metro editor at the Sacramento Bee and Fresno Bee.

Liz Zavala was elected VP of Print. She was previously NAHJ’s secretary. She is deputy city editor for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She rejoined that paper after working 7 years at The Dallas Morning News (2000-2007). Liz helped the Star-Telegram launch its Spanish-language newspaper, La Estrella, in 1994, and served as its editor for three years. That publication no longer exists. It was merged earlier this year with the home-delivered entertainment and sports-focused weekly La Estrella en Casa.

Hugo Balta won VP of Broadcast – the only officer contested race. He edged out incumbent Manny de la Rosa. He is the VP of News & News Director at WNJU Telemundo 47, in New York. Before that, Hugo worked as a producer at NBC’s WTVJ in Miami, at MSNBC and at WNBC in New York. He was part of the NBC and Telemundo merger integration team. Following the merger, Hugo was named Assistant News Director for Telemundo 47 in 2002.

Former NAHJ president Dino Chiecchi returns to the board as financial officer. Dino is the editor of Hispanic publications for the San Antonio Express-News, overseeing the weekly bilingual publication, Conexión, and the all-Spanish, twice-a-week publication Cancha.

Veronica García, until recently a copy editor at the L.A. Times, was elected secretary, leaving her Region 8 director position. Her alternate, Jerry Berrios steps into that role.

Robert Hernández was elected online at-large officer. He is the director of development for The Seattle Times/seattletimes.com.

Brandon Benavides is the new general at-large officer. He is a news producer for KSTP-TV in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN.

No one ran for the Spanish-language-at large seat. It remains vacant, awaiting a presidential appointment.

Three students competed for the student board seat. America Arias, a fourth-year student at California State University, Fullerton won that election.

Click here for more information about the winners and candidates.