California Humanities hosted three public forums with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sonia Nazario as part of the CA 2020: Democracy and the Informed Citizen, a year-long partnership with California community colleges designed to engage a broad cross-section of young Californians in a consideration of the vital connections between democracy and journalism. The initiative brings Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists to California campuses, provides hands-on media literacy training, and helps amplify young people’s voices and perspectives in the public dialogue.
On Immigration and Journalism forums in Bakersfield, San Jose, and San Diego featured Nazario in conversation with Joaquin Alvarado, founder of Studiotobe and former CEO of the Center for Investigative Reporting. Nazario, who won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing for her six-part Los Angeles Times series about the experiences of Latin American children immigrating to the United States Enrique’s Journey, is also currently an opinion writer with the New York Times focusing on immigration and asylum issues.
Following each public forum, Nazario met with students on the campuses of CA 2020 partners Bakersfield College, Foothill and De Anza Colleges, and San Diego City College to discuss her work as a journalist.
Highlights to date of the CA 2020: Democracy and the Informed Citizen initiative include:
- The announcement of CA 2020 Democracy Media Fellowships at Bakersfield College to support emerging journalism students in partnership with South Kern Sol.
- The launch of Shasta College 2020, a semester-long, investigative journalism project exploring the impact of the recent Carr Fire on the Redding community.
- A day-long Immigration Teach-In at Foothill College, featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Sonia Nazario and Jose Antonio Vargas.
- A discussion with over 80 students at Bakersfield College’s Delano Campus on the importance of local news and reporting.
- Presentations and discussions of Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario with high school students at San Diego City College in partnership the 2018 Restoring Respect Conference and at De Anza College in partnership with the Vasconcellos Institute for Democracy in Action.
The next On Immigration and Journalism public forum will be held in partnership with Shasta College on February 6, 2019 in Redding.
CA 2020: Democracy and the Informed Citizen is supported in part by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Democracy and the Informed Citizen Initiative, in partnership with the Pulitzer Prizes and administered by the Federation of State Humanities Councils. Additional support for this initiative has been provided by the Virginia and Alfred Harrell Foundation, the Knight Foundation Fund, The McConnell Foundation, the Parker Foundation, and the Nordson Corporation Foundation. We are grateful to our many partners and supporters in this initiative.
