L.A. Times’ Padilla Inducted Into NAHJ Hall of Fame

Los Angeles Times Column One Editor Steve Padilla has been inducted into the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ (NAHJ) Hall of Fame, which recognizes individuals who have upheld the organization’s mission to expand the number of Latinos in newsrooms and improve coverage of Latino communities. He was honored along with three other journalists during the closing gala at the NAHJ 40th Anniversary Conference and Expo on July 13 in Los Angeles.

In addition to serving as the editor of the L.A. Times’ showcase feature, Column One, Padilla is widely known as a writing coach for journalists across the country, conducting workshops for the NAHJ, the National Press Club Journalism Institute, the Poynter Institute, the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education and press clubs throughout the West Coast.

“We are so proud of this honor for Steve,” said Scott Kraft, The Times’ editor at large, who called Padilla “an L.A. Times treasure.

“He has an exceptional gift for storytelling and an infectious passion for words and language,” Kraft said, noting that Padilla has been a “prized coach and mentor” to generations of Times reporters, “and his sessions on the craft of writing are standing-room-only in our newsroom and at newsrooms around the country.”

Times Managing Editor Hector Becerra called Padilla “the guiding hand” behind some of the narrative stories he was most proud of in his time as a reporter. “He was generous with time and his mind always crackled with different and ever more creative ways of approaching a story,” Becerra said. “I was extraordinarily lucky to learn from Steve as a reporter and then an editor.”

Padilla shared the Hall of Fame honor alongside industry peers Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews, Rafael Prieto Zartha and John Quiñones.

To learn more about the honor, visit nahj.org.