The power of young immigrants in the nation’s politics – in particular Latino voters – will be examined at the Roger Tatarian Journalism Symposium, 9-11 a.m. Wednesday, April 17 on the  Fresno State campus. The symposium will feature Fernanda Santos, New York Times Phoenix bureau chief.

The free, public event in the Satellite Student Union (2485 E. San Ramon Ave) is presented by the Fresno State’s College of Arts and Humanities and the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism and co-sponsored by the Associated Students Inc. Readership Program.

Santos will discuss “Minority/Majority: Political Power in Numbers: How Growth of the Latino Population is paving the Way for Immigration Reform in the United States,” at 9 a.m. From 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. there will be a panel discussion, “Immigration: Now and the Future,” moderated by Juan Esparza Loera, editor of Vida en el Valle, a Hispanic publication of The Fresno Bee.

Panelists include Dr. Annabella España-Nájera, assistant professor in the Department of Chicano and Latin American Studies at Fresno State, and Manuel Cunha Jr., president of the Nisei Farmers League.

“This year’s symposium will focus on the changing demographics of the United States and the transformative power of young immigrants in the nation’s politics,” said Jan Edwards, Mass Communication and Journalism professor who is coordinating the event. “Elections in Arizona and Colorado will be examined – focusing on the role of Latino voters.”

Santos joined the metropolitan news staff of The New York Times in September 2005, writing extensively about immigration and other issues. She became the Times’ Phoenix bureau chief in April 2012.  

Prior to The Times, Santos spent three years at the Daily News of New York. For The Eagle-Tribune in Lawrence, Mass., she was one of the lead writers of a 10-part series about racial relations, which received a 2001 Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi award.

Santos began her reporting career in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, her native country, and moved to the United States in 1998. She was a spring 2005 fellow at the International Reporting Project, a 2003 fellow at the Casey Journalism Center on Children and Families, and a co-writer of “Latinos in the United States,” a reference guide published by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

She graduated from Pontificia Universidade Católica of Rio de Janeiro with a bachelor’s degree in communications.  She also holds a master’s degree in print journalism from Boston University.

The Tatarian Symposium honors the late Roger Tatarian, a Fresno State alumnus who was editor-in-chief of United Press International and a longtime journalism professor at Fresno State. The symposium brings to campus top figures in journalism for lectures, question-and-answer sessions and interaction with students and the public.

For more information, contact Edwards at 559.278.2087.

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