NAHJ inducts four Latino trailblazers into Hall of Fame at 2026 national conference
The plan was the same as it always was: to work right up until deadline. And then maybe some more after that.
Except deadline looked a little different on this day for San Francisco Chronicle photojournalist and veteran journalism mentor Carlos Ávila Gonzalez.
Gonzalez was being inducted into the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ Hall of Fame during its 2026 conference in New Orleans alongside three other journalists who helped pave a path for Latinos in the media industry.
Gonzalez has for decades been at the forefront of telling stories through images. But the San Francisco native got his start in California’s Central Valley, where he pointed his camera at breaking news and the faces of Californians from all walks of life.
After graduating from San Francisco State University in 1995, Gonzalez went on to work for small newspapers up and down the Central Valley.
“It means a lot more when it’s something that matters to the people around you,” Gonzalez said. “I’ve been around newsrooms since I was 10 years old, and I really grew to understand the connection between small community papers and readership.”
He was hired in 1997 by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Gonzalez said he doesn’t understand why he was inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame, its highest honor. He suspects it was for the many years of service he has put into the organization’s student training programs. But, he said, “I also believe that you can’t do that unless you have a background that really elevates what you can teach.”
Gonzalez said his time in the industry has sometimes been a painful one, and he wants to leave it better than he found it for the next generation. He called himself “el abuelo of the mentors,” having now mentored enough classes of students that some have gone on to become mentors themselves.
“This is an award that encapsulates a lot of people who have, you know, helped be the village that kept this thing together,” Gonzalez said. “And they don’t last as long as I have in some cases.”
José Díaz-Balart, a Telemundo and NBC News anchor, is also being honored with a Hall of Fame induction. The longtime anchor is a trailblazer for Latinos in the industry, NAHJ officials said in their announcement of this year’s honorees. He was among the group of journalists that founded Noticias Telemundo, the network’s news division, in 1987.
In 1996, Díaz-Balart became the first Cuban-American to host a network news program when he took the helm at This Morning on CBS News. He is the only U.S. anchor to run national broadcasts in both Spanish and English. He has also interviewed every U.S. president since Ronald Reagan.
Díaz-Balart received five national Emmys for his work with Telumundo as well as a Peabody and a duPont-Columbia Award.
Sally Ramirez will also be recognized in this year’s Hall of Fame. As a bilingual first-generation Mexican-American and Chicago native, Ramirez stepped into the role as senior vice president of news for NBC 5 Chicago and Telemundo Chicago. She has worked in television for the past 30 years and held large-market leadership roles across the country.
The decorated journalist has been recognized for numerous awards, including five Edward R. Murrow awards, four Emmy Awards and the duPont-Columbia award.
Ricardo Sandoval-Palos is also receiving a Hall of Fame honor. Now the public editor of PBS, Sandoval-Palos has a long history in the industry. He has led investigative and enterprise reporting in the U.S. and across Latin America and held leadership roles in multiple newsrooms. In 2019, he co-founded NAHJ’s digital magazine, palabra.
His career has spanned four decades, with work focusing on accountability reporting, human rights, Latin America and topics facing Latino communities across the United States. Sandoval-Palos said failure has motivated him throughout his career. He couldn’t succeed unless he also failed, he said.
“Keep learning, keep seeing how you can improve your own work, seeing how you can improve your ability to tell a story and the ability to engage with the audiences,” he said. “That’s our primary task, it’s our primary challenge. How we can get audiences to trust us and then read us on a continual basis? That’s how we survive.”
Inductees are being honored at the final gala of the 2026 NAHJ Conference & Expo in New Orleans, cementing them as pioneers of the industry.
James Gordon is a senior at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. James is the editor in chief for the student publication, The Signpost. He aspires to cover news in and around the greater Salt Lake City metro area. James can be contacted at jeg.jamesgordon [at} gmail [dot] com.
