Macarena Hernández is an American academic and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

from La Joya, Texas. She has written about Latino issues such as

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

and

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

Newspaper work and scandals

Hernández has a B.A. in English Professional Writing and Journalism from

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

, and a Masters in Journalism from

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. While in college, Hernandez interned at ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', and following graduation, became the

Rio Grande Valley Lower Rio Grande Valley (), often referred to as the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) of South Texas, is a region located in the southernmost part of Texas, along the northern bank of the Rio Grande. It is also known locally as the Valley or the 956 (the ...

Bureau Chief for the ''

San Antonio Express-News The ''San Antonio Express-News'' is a daily newspaper in San Antonio, Texas, founded in 1865. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation and has offices in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The ''Express-News'' is the third largest newspaper in the sta ...

''. In 2003, a ''New York Times'' reporter who had interned alongside her,

Jayson Blair Jayson Thomas Blair (born March 23, 1976) is a former American journalist who worked for ''The New York Times''. In May 2003, he resigned from the newspaper following the revelation of fabrication and plagiarism within his articles. In 2004, h ...

, was caught plagiarizing a newspaper article she had written for the ''Express-News''. The revelation uncovered dozens of other stories that Blair had plagiarized or fabricated for ''The Times'', setting off a national media story. Hernández joined the staff of ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

'' in August 2005. Soon after, she penned a column discussing the frequency with which illegal immigrants are the victims of crime in the United States, citing a Georgia case in which six Mexicans were murdered. When Fox's Bill O'Reilly expressed outrage that the Mexican flag was flown as a show of sorrow, Hernández accused O'Reilly of preaching hate. In retaliation, O'Reilly called for a boycott of the ''Dallas Morning News''.

Academic career and awards

Hernandez later became the Victoria Advocate Endowed Professor in Humanities and taught in the Communications Department at the

University of Houston–Victoria The University of Houston–Victoria (UHV) is a public university in Victoria, Texas, United States. It is part of the University of Houston System. Its campus spans in Victoria with a satellite location in Katy, Texas. Founded in 1971, UHV ...

, where she was co-founder and managing director of Centro Victoria, creating resources for Latino literature in the United States. She is now the Fred Hartman Distinguished Professor of Journalism at her alma mater, Baylor University. In 2003, ''Latina'' named her one of their Women of the Year, and ''Hispanic Magazine'' named her one of 2004’s Trendsetters. In 2006, the Los Angeles Times called her a "Media Face to Watch." In 2016 Hernandez was the recipient of a

Creative Capital Creative Capital is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in New York City that supports artists across the United States through funding, counsel, gatherings, and career development services. Since its founding in 1999, Creative Capital has co ...

Award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez, Macarena American newspaper journalists The Dallas Morning News people Living people American women journalists Baylor University alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women