Ernabel Demillo is first recipient of ethics in journalism award
Host and reporter for CUNY-TV’s Emmy-nominated program ‘Asian American Life.’
College Media Association (CMA), the nation’s largest organization dedicated to serving collegiate media advisers, is proud to announce the creation of a new award in honor of Frank LoMonte, former executive director of the Student Press Law Center.
The first recipient of the Frank LoMonte Ethics in Journalism Award is Ernabel Demillo, television journalist and former adviser to the student publication at Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City, New Jersey.
The award honors journalists, advisers or news organizations that perform in an outstanding ethical manner demonstrating the ideals of CMA’s Code of Ethical Behavior. It may also honor especially notable efforts to educate the public on principles embodied in the code or hold journalists ethically accountable for their behavior.
This award is not limited to CMA members. The award was announced at the CMA Adviser Awards ceremony on Thursday, October 26, at the Dallas Sheraton in Dallas, Texas, during the 2017 Associated Collegiate Press/College Media Association Fall National College Media Convention.
“CMA is glad to honor Frank for his service to our industry and our members throughout the years,” said Chris Evans, president of College Media Association. “He has been a great friend and resource to student media. Ernabel Demillo is a deserving first recipient.”
Demillo was the adviser to the student-run newspaper at Saint Peter’s, the Pauw Wow until she was removed from her position after she fought university efforts to censor the paper. Her defense of her students’ First Amendment rights helped roll back those censorship efforts at the school.
She currently hosts and reports for CUNY-TV’s five-time Emmy-nominated program “Asian American Life” http://www.cuny.tv/show/asianamericanlife, a magazine-style show focusing on the tri-state’s Asian American community. Her stories have focused on hard-hitting AAPI issues from the growing political influence of AAPIs to Asian American parents and their LGBTQ children.
For 10 years, she worked as a reporter and anchor on the Emmy-award winning FOX morning news show, “Good Day New York.” Before coming to NYC, she was a reporter for the Orange County Newschannel and the CBS-affiliate in Sacramento.
In addition, she is a contributing reporter for CUNY-TV’s “Arts in the City” and “Science and U!” In 2017 and 2013, she was honored with an individual Emmy nomination for her reporting on Filipinos in New York City and Best Environment Program for her story on a group of musicians who turn trash into musical instruments.
Frank LoMonte served as executive director of the Student Press Law Center from January 2008 to July 2017. He recently joined the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, where he will head the Joseph L. Brechner Center for Freedom of Information as a Professor of Journalism. During his tenure at SPLC, LoMonte was a tireless advocate for the rights of student press.
The voice of collegiate media and its advisers, CMA serves student media pros, staffs and programs with education, research and resources. Founded in 1954 as the National Council of College Publications Advisers, CMA now has more than 600 members — the people who advise the nation’s collegiate media newspapers, yearbooks, magazines, broadcast and electronic media and their staffs — from coast to coast.
© 2017 The FilAm
