At the yearly INN Awards, Voice of OC’s Founder, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Norberto Santana Jr., was awarded the Service to Nonprofit News Award last month in Pittsburgh, PA.
The prestigious award is sponsored by the Institute for Nonprofit News, a national organization dedicated to the funding and support of nonprofit news, and is granted to those who have made significant, innovative and lasting impacts in the field.
His work and contributions to the field of journalism prompted INN CEO Karen Rundlet to refer to Santana as one of the “Pioneers” of the nonprofit news movement.
“Engage Norberto in a conversation and you’ll quickly discover his commitment to independent journalism, diverse staffing and coverage,” Rundlet said. “Make no mistake though. Norberto also knows this work takes sound business practices. The entire field is better because Norberto is part of it.”
His work has demonstrated his tireless dedication to the field of journalism, serving on several board of directors and task forces for different news trade organizations including INN and Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) while also helping develop curriculum and train students in public affairs journalism at Chapman University and Cal State Fullerton.
Santana has worked a lifetime in the field of journalism, starting by monitoring elections across Latin America, working with dissident journalists in Cuba and later covering floor action in the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Virgin Islands Senate before coming back to his native Southern California, where he would focus on local government coverage at the San Bernardino County Sun, the San Diego Union Tribune and the Orange County Register.
However his most innovative contribution to the field of nonprofit news is Voice of OC itself.
For 17 years, the Voice of OC newsroom has dedicated itself to tackling local issues and the complicated web of local governments across Orange County.
“The main lesson I’ve learned throughout this entire adventure is to never forget the core reason why communities all over America want us to thrive and are willing to invest in our newsrooms,” Santana said while accepting the award in front of more than 500 member newsrooms at the INN annual conference in Pittsburgh last month.
“It’s the stories that good local journalism tells, the change it fuels by putting residents in a position to defend their quality of life.”