The CCNMA / Latino Journalists of California on Monday named KVPR's Madi Bolanos as one of three finalists for the prestigious Ruben Salazar Award for journalism in the broadcast category. The awards highlight excellence in journalism that leads to a "better understanding of Latino communities by portraying Latinos fairly and accurately."
Bolanos' nomination is for a report she produced earlier this year about the deaths of Latino immigrants in Kings County due to COVID-19. Other nominees in the category are from NCB 4 in Los Angeles and Telemundo 52 in Los Angeles. Bolanos is the first KVPR journalist to be honored with a nomination for this award.
Bolanos' report was produced for KVPR as part of the Central Valley News Collaborative, a project of Valley Public Radio, Radio Bilingue, The Fresno Bee and Vida en el Valle. In the print category, the Bee's Nadia Lopez was also nominated for a story produced for the collaborative.
According to the CCNMA:
"The awards are named after the late Ruben Salazar, who at the time of his death in 1970 was a columnist for the Los Angeles Times and news director of Spanish-language television station KMEX in Los Angeles. Salazar was covering the Chicano anti-Vietnam War Moratorium in East Los Angeles when he was killed by a tear gas projectile fired by a Sheriff’s deputy."
