In her
Westword piece, Lizarraga had noted that 9News managers reviewing one of her first efforts for the station "told me I was not allowed to describe the young man in my story — or anyone else for that matter — as 'undocumented' while at 9News. Instead, I was instructed to use 'here illegally' or 'illegally in the country.' For two years, I explained that I was not comfortable with that verbiage and how it could discourage my community from this platform. For two years, my managers repeated the 9News guidelines."
Those guidelines are now changed. The new edict was released this week following a meeting between TEGNA vice president and chief diversity officer Grady Tripp and leaders from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. In addition, the NAHJ is planning a sit-down with Dave Lougee, a former 9News executive who's now the CEO of TEGNA, to build on the language change, which the association's president, Nora López, characterizes as "a very promising first step."