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News
Release February
28,
2006
NLGJA
News > News Releases > February 28, 2006
Thomas Cashman Avila Named Deputy Executive
Director of National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association
WASHINGTON,
DC – The National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association
(NLGJA) today announced the appointment of Thomas Cashman Avila
as deputy executive director overseeing NLGJA’s pioneering
work in the training and education
of journalists on the fair and accurate coverage of the lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender
(LGBT) issues. Avila will be the
first candidate to serve in this new NLGJA role.
Avila will
oversee all programmatic and communications elements of NLGJA’s mission work with a focus on the organization’s
outreach to the next generation of journalists through NLGJA’s
ongoing journalism education initiatives.
“We are excited to welcome Tom to our team,” said
Pamela Strother, NLGJA Executive Director. “Tom has spent
the past six years with two of the leading professional organizations
involved in journalism training and research – the Committee
of Concerned Journalists (CCJ) and
the Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ). NLGJA is looking
forward to his leadership
in helping the industry recognize that
fair and accurate coverage of LGBT issues is at the core of good
journalism.”
Prior to NLGJA,
Avila served as the staff director of the CCJ and as a writer/researcher
for its sister organization, the PEJ.
His primary focus was the coordination
of outreach activities for the CCJ and PEJ, as well as administrative
oversight of CCJ’s
innovative newsroom education program – The Traveling Curriculum.
“I’ve had the great fortune to learn from some of
the most respected people in journalism. It’s exciting to
bring that knowledge to a growing organization whose work I’ve
so long admired,” said Avila.
From 2004
until 2006, Avila was the lead researcher/writer on the subject
of radio and a network television researcher for the
PEJ’s comprehensive State of the News Media annual report.
This work included the identification and analysis of trends in
radio audience, economics, ownership, news investment and public
attitudes. The inaugural edition of State of the News Media earned
PEJ a Sigma Delta Chi award and Penn State University’s
Bart Richards’ award.
“LGBT issues are dominating today’s headlines, and
teaming Avila and Strother ensures NLGJA is best prepared for
our growing role as the go-to resource on LGBT coverage training
and programs in the journalism industry,” said Eric Hegedus,
NLGJA National President. “We are dedicated to making good
journalists the very best they can
be.”
As NLGJA has
grown to include 1,300 members in 24 chapters, so has the demand
for professional staff to strategically meet the
organization’s mission. Headquartered in Washington, DC,
NLGJA’s National Office has expanded from one full-time
position in 1996 to a professional staff of seven with Avila’s
recent appointment, increasing the
size and focus of the national office to an organizational high.
The
National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA)
is an organization of journalists,
media professionals, educators and
students who work within the news
industry to foster fair and accurate
coverage of lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender issues.
NLGJA opposes all forms of workplace
bias and provides professional
development to its members. Click here to learn more
information about Thomas Cashman
Avila.
Media Contacts:
Pamela Strother
Executive Director
Office: 202.588.9888, ext. 11
Mobile: 202-486-5990
pstrother@nlgja.org
Eric Hegedus
National President
Mobile: 215-840-3909
ehegedus@gmail.com
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