The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is grappling with how to pay its expenses after seeing a significant drop in membership.

NAHJ members meet and greet at the San Juan Convention Center. Latino Reporter/Jackie Guerrero

Latino Reporter Staff

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is facing a budget crisis after seeing its membership drop by 36 percent.

According to a preliminary report, the association’s membership has fallen to 1,400 from 2,200 members in 2008.

Students now make up 40 percent of NAHJ’s membership.

The decline in membership – and dues – is weighing on NAHJ’s budget. Regular members pay $110 in yearly dues, but student members pay only $35 annually.

“Our budget crisis is really tight,” said Brandon Benavides, a board member. “We’re just trying to find a way to make sure we have enough money to pay our expenses.”

In addition to a yearly convention, NAHJ sponsors educational programs such as the convention’s student projects, scholarships and internships.

The organization has given $1.5 million in financial assistance to more than 550 aspiring journalists since 1987.

“The student journalists, those are our future,” Benavides said. “They’re the next wave of journalism.”

NAHJ President O. Ricardo Pimentel said he will continue to make the educational programs a top priority, but said some changes are needed.

“We will have to look at whether we will have to adjust to save money and whether we need to do things differently but still deliver the same result,” he said.

In addition to the membership drop, the association also racked up additional expenses with this year’s student project.

In the past, media companies often sponsored employees to serve as mentors, but many news organizations facing budget constraints of their own did not do so this year. NAHJ paid for mentors who did not get assistance from their employers, are freelancing or have been laid off to train 40 students in the association’s first converged program.

About 30 members and board members met Saturday to discuss NAHJ’s budget.  A full assessment of the budget meeting will be released Saturday, Pimentel said.

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