The National Association of Hispanic Journalists, faced with a refusal by the National Association of Black Journalists to change the dates of its 2027 convention to avoid a head-to-head conflict, has decided to change its own dates instead, NAHJ announced.

"After careful consideration, the NAHJ board of directors decided to move our 2027 conference from its previously scheduled dates of August 4-8 to August 30 to September 2, 2027," it said.

The new dates are even later than those that NABJ said would hurt its own finances if it met then, as many potential attendees would be heading to school. The Black journalists changed their dates from Aug. 16 to 22 to Aug. 4 to 8.

NAHJ acknowledged, "Any significant change to a contracted national conference has potential financial and operational implications.

"NAHJ carefully considered those factors. The National Conference & Expo is NAHJ’s largest annual gathering and an important source of revenue supporting programs and services throughout the year. Avoiding direct competition for sponsors, exhibitors, recruiters and attendees was an important consideration.

"NAHJ is working with its conference partners and the hotel to minimize the financial impact." NABJ President Errin Haines said she did not realize NAHJ's convention, scheduled for Minneapolis, would be taking place at the same time NABJ planned to be in Houston under its new timetable.

Julio-Cesar Chavez, NAHJ’s vice president of broadcast, declared bluntly, "We expect NABJ to change their dates."

However, NABJ rejected NAHJ's request, with some members privately recalling with distaste NAHJ's 2023 decision to pull out of the joint convention both were to have the next year in Chicago.

As it turned out, the appearance by then-candidate Donald Trump at that NABJ convention generated unprecedented attention to that Chicago event, which drew a record 4,363 attendees.

Journal-isms reported last year that NAHJ was the nation's fourth-largest association of journalists, behind Investigative Reporters & Editors, NABJ and the Society of Professional Journalists. NABJ had 4,259 members to NAHJ's 3,654.

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