Juan Gonzalez from Democracy Now!

Juan Gonzalez has been a professional journalist for more than 30 years and a staff columnist at the New York Daily News since 1987. A recipient of the 1998 George Polk Award for commentary, Gonzalez was the first reporter in New York City to consistently expose the health effects arising from the September 11, 2001 attacks and the cover-up of these hazards by government officials. He is a founder and past president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and a member of NAHJ's Hall of Fame. During his term as NAHJ president, Gonzalez created the Parity Project, an innovative program that creates partnerships between local communities and media organizations to improve coverage of the Latino community and to recruit and retain more Hispanic journalists. He also spearheaded a successful movement among U.S. journalists to join other citizen groups in opposing the Federal Communications Commission's deregulation of media ownership restrictions.