La Opinión Announces Its Participation in the Inaugural California Local News Fellowship program

Los Angeles’s leading Spanish-language daily newspaper will serve as one of the participating newsrooms to support rising stars in journalism

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--La Opinión, Los Angeles’s leading Spanish-language news source and daily newspaper, today announced its participation in The California Local News Fellowship program, a multi-year, state-funded initiative to support and strengthen local news coverage in California, with a focus on underserved communities. The program will provide two-year fellowships to 120 early career journalists over the next three years and is led by a 17-person advisory board. As one of the participating newsrooms, La Opinión will champion quality news coverage by mentoring aspiring journalists in the community and partnering with UC Berkeley to guide the selected fellows.

“La Opinión is honored to be part of this statewide initiative to help elevate the experiences of future journalists. Keeping audiences informed with relevant local content is at the heart of our mission,” says Armando Varela, Executive Editor of La Opinión. “We understand the significant role local newspapers play in a community and the need for best–in-class reporting for our readers. This fellowship will bring knowledge and expertise to all California newsrooms and will increase the pool of available talent to keep our mission alive.”

“At a time when the journalism industry is facing a variety of existential threats, from polarization and lack of trust in news to profound business model failures, our aim is to be a bright spot, filling critical gaps in reporting and creating a viable career path for the next generation of journalists,” Christa Scharfenberg, project director of the Fellowship program, said. "We are particularly honored to partner with La Opinión and other ethnic media outlets throughout California that have for decades been delivering critically important information to communities so often overlooked by the mainstream media."

​​About La Opinión

La Opinion reaches over 20 million readers monthly worldwide through its digital platform and is also the most-read print newspaper in Spanish in the United States. It was founded in 1926 in Los Angeles to provide daily news and information to a growing Hispanic population. Its audience is active, involved, and engaged. It has received an accolade of awards among them Outstanding Daily by the National Association of Hispanic Publications.