Maria Burns Ortiz Receives 07 NAHJ Emerging Journalist of the Year Award

On October 4, 2007, Maria Burns Ortiz, college soccer columnist for ESPN.com, received the 2007 Emerging Journalist of the Year Award by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Within 10 months at The Fort Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel, Burns Ortiz went from a being prep sports reporter to covering major college and professional sports. She was the city's first bilingual minor league baseball reporter. Burns Ortiz wrote daily English- and Spanish-language columns with the intention of appealing to an underserved Hispanic audience. The Spanish pieces generated a storm of controversy, but she showed strength beyond her years and didn't back down. Her World Cup columns caught the eye of ESPN.com's soccer editor, and Maria joined ESPN's team. She is currently working on an enterprise project for ESPN.com, regarding Venezuelan baseball.

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