Amairani Hernandez won second place in the Politics category of the California Ethnic Media Awards for her profile of Hector Hernandez, a 17-year-old senior at Mira Monte High School in Bakersfield.
The CALÓ News reporter is a native of Los Angeles and a graduate of California State University, Los Angeles, with degrees in Broadcast Journalism and Television and Film. She covers community-centered stories about Latinos, including social justice, art, health and culture. She is also the CALÓ News social media and audience engagement coordinator.
Hernandez covered the story about Hector, who has become a leading youth voice organizing countywide student walkouts that have galvanized young Latinos across Kern County against President Trump’s immigration crackdowns.
Hector’s Mixteco mother, Gladys Flores, grew up undocumented and recalled being told to “stay quiet and don’t get in trouble” as an Indigenous immigrant. Breaking that generational silence, she encouraged Hector to “go for it.”
The 2025 California Ethnic Media Expo & Awards were held on Nov. 7 at the PG&E Conference Center in Oakland. The awards honor storytelling from California’s ethnic media — from print and digital to broadcast and social platforms, in English and in-language.
Ethnic media outlets are those print, digital, broadcast or multimedia platforms that target a specific audience defined by race, ethnic origin, gender identity and that publish regularly, Pan-ethnic media outlets target multiple ethnic audiences such as pan-AAPI, pan-African diaspora, pan-immigrant, pan people-of-color, and pan LGBTQ+.
The full list of winners is available at americancommunitymedia.org/events/2025-winners-acom-awards/
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