Writers for Atlanta's Mundo Hispanico and Azizah Magazine Win New America Media Awards...

Writers for Atlanta's Mundo Hispanico and Azizah Magazine Win New America
Media Awards for Outstanding Journalism

NAM Honors Atlanta Journalists with Ethnic Media Awards for Extraordinary
Reporting

ATLANTA, June 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New America Media (NAM) announced
today that two journalists from ethnic news organizations in Atlanta won
prestigious awards in NAM's national awards contest, which includes entries
from ethnic media outlets across the country.

Leslie Froelich, of Mundo Hispanico, a weekly Hispanic newspaper, and staff
writers at Azizah, a monthly magazine covering Muslim woman, will be honored
for their outstanding work. Ms. Froelich won an Arts, Sports & Entertainment
category for an article on "Spanglish," the mixing of the Spanish and English
languages. The Azizah writers won an environmental category for feature
stories exploring the Islamic approach to environmentalism.

Sandy Close, NAM's executive director, said the award winners exemplify the
quality of work performed by ethnic media outlets across the country. Citing a
new poll showing that the ethnic media in America is growing as mainstream
newspapers struggle to keep readers, Ms. Close said more and more Americans
are recognizing the influence of the ethnic media.

"Even as both mainstream and the ethnic media struggle to survive in difficult
economic times, it's clear that the quality of work, and the ethnic media's
commitment to the communities that they serve, has never been better," Ms.
Close said. "The ethnic media is continuing to make an impact in urban and
rural communities. NAM award winners, such as Ms. Froelich and Azizah
Magazine, demonstrate that the ethnic media is making a difference."

Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, and not speaking a word of Spanish until she
learned it in high school, Ms. Froelich never imagined she would soon be
writing for Nuevo Sumario newspaper in Cordoba, Argentina, then find herself
covering finance, business, real estate, heath, and lifestyle at Mundo
Hispanico, Atlanta's largest Spanish language newspaper.

It was in the newsroom, overhearing colleagues from Venezuela, Columbia,
Mexico, Puerto Rico and across Latin America, where Ms. Froelich was first
fascinated by the sounds of Spanglish, the hybrid language of English and
Spanish embraced especially by younger Latinos in the U.S. While researching
the story, Ms. Froelich sought to determine if the collision of Spanish and
English was viewed as a bad thing -- a devaluing of the Spanish language -- or
a good thing -- a natural evolution of words helping create a common framework
especially among newcomers.

Ms. Froelich was surprised by her findings. "I thought I was going to find
more of a balanced mix of responses, particularly among academics, that
Spanglish is ruining the Spanish language, obstructing it," she said. "When
really, most felt it was a reflection of where the country is headed."

The Atlanta-based Azizah Magazine published a package of stories entitled:
"Color Me Green, Loving Planet Earth." Their stories explored the connection
between Islam and environmentalism. It included one staffer's first person
perspective of junking one's car for car sharing, a one woman's journey toward
eco-activism. Contributor Nadirah Z. Sabir described running her last minute
errands using a car share service. Readers were also invited to take the
Azizah Green Test from editor Azizah Zahera to find out how green they are.

"We wanted to emphasize, going green is dear to us, because we have a
spiritual responsibly to care for the earth," says Tayyibah Taylor,
editor-in-chief and publisher of Azizah Magazine. "We tried to show how
Muslims were doing it here."

Despite an emphasis on faith, Ms. Taylor says it was very important to not
"preach." Instead, their package of stories tried to engage readers by
highlighting what people were doing to make small changes in their lives. "The
more you know about options and possibilities," Ms. Taylor said, "the more apt
you are to put it into practice."

All the award winners from around the country will be honored at NAM's
National Ethnic Media Expo & Awards on June 4-5 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in
Atlanta. The awards will be presented on June 4 at 6:00 pm, an event that
will be co-sponsored by NAM and the University of Georgia Grady College of
Journalism & Mass Communication.

"We are honored to showcase the great work being done by the ethnic media,"
Ms. Close said, noting that NAM will also release a poll at the gathering
showing the tremendous growth of the ethnic media. "The ethnic media faces
many challenges, but the ethnic media also has many accomplishments and our
poll shows that people are realizing the high quality of journalism being
practiced. Now, we just need for the advertisers to follow the readers."

(To schedule interviews or request the ethnic media poll, contact Alicia
Ingram at (404) 493-1724 ingramalicia@bellsouth.net or Michael K. Frisby
(202) 625-4328 mike@frisbyassociates.com)

Contact:

Alicia Ingram
(404) 493-1724

Michael K. Frisby
(202) 625-4328

SOURCE New America Media

Alicia Ingram, +1-404-493-1724, or Michael K. Frisby, +1-202-625-4328, both
for New America Media