Corpus Christi community leader Nancy Vera on Parity Project at the Caller-Times:

Corpus Christi educator and community leader Nancy Vera.

For Nancy Vera, news coverage of Latinos in Corpus Christi, Texas goes far beyond statistics.

As someone who is an educator and a community leader in a city with important historical significance for Hispanics in the United States, how journalists cover Latinos plays a major role in how Latinos get an education, jobs and lead successful lives.

Vera talks about a study done by Texas A & M University Kingsville on the effectiveness of the Parity Project at the Caller-Times:

Both the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the American G.I. Forum, which supports Hispanic U.S. military veterans, were founded in Corpus Christi.

Dr. Vera is president of LULAC Council #4444 in Corpus. She is also Vice-President of the Council on Drug and Alcohol Abuse in that area of Texas known as the Coastal Bend. And she is a Secondary English/Language Arts instructor at Mary Carroll High School.

She is also a member of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times Hispanic Community Advisory Committee, an outgrowth of the Parity Project.

She was in the room when the Parity Project was launched during a town hall with Hispanic business people, entrepreneurs, educators, health care providers, community advocates, retirees and students on Sept. 21, 2004.

Results of the Texas A & M, Kingsville study showed an increase in stories involving Latinos and education and a decrease in stories emphasizing Hispanics and crime. The study also shows that there is still room for improvement when it comes to the Parity Project, especially “cultural understanding and how (it) can succeed by reporting on important issues revolving around community.”

You can check out results of the Texas A & M University Kingsville content audit of the Parity Project here:

Texas A & M Univ., Kingsville Content Audit of Parity Project @ Corpus Christi Caller-Times