HSU’s Bilingual Student Papers Wins 6 Awards But Continues to Tell Community Stories

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ARCATA, Ca. (KIEM) – HSU’s student bilingual paper El Lenador won six first place awards at the California Media Association competition. Since their accomplishment, the team continues to be a voice for their community.

El Lenador is HSU’s student bilingual paper. It’s also the counterpart of The Lumberjack.

“I think it’s most important to do a Spanish, English newspaper to support the folks of color,” said Meg Bezak, a reporter for the paper. “Especially Latinx folks out here.”

They’re a team of student reporters, working to be the voice of not only the Hispanic community, but also people of color.

“In mainstream media there’s not a lot stories covering them and there’s so much going on in our communities, says Editor-in-Chief Jose Herrera. “In the Latinx communities we’re facing issues with immigration, all groups face racism and discrimination.”

El Lenador strives to capture the stories of people who feel they aren’t heard or represented.

“I think that we can do what we can as journalists to validate the experiences of people of color,” said Bezak.

These students maybe in school, but they’re future storytellers.

“There is a Hispanic community out there and this paper really serves them,” says Managing Editor Vanessa Flores. “We really want to make sure that they feel there is a paper out there that serves them.”

El Lenador’s goal is to let the Hispanic community know there is a newspaper made for them.

But they’re also here to let other minorities know, that El Lenador is here for them too.

“There’s more to it and those are things we need to pay attention and work toward to,” said Herrera. “But we also need to celebrate our successes and our triumphs.”

The paper also received second place in Sports Photography and third place in Special Issues.

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