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HFPA Names Five Outside Journalists to Join Its Credentials Committee and Find New Members

Michael Schneider
·4-min read

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has announced the latest step in its ongoing reform efforts, tapping five outside journalists to join its credentials committee, who will be tasked with helping to screen and select new members.

The HFPA notes that a third of its board is now made up of members of color, and is two-thirds female.

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Joining the nine-member credentials committee are Tre’Vell Anderson, Terry Anzur, Bel Hernandez, Toni Moston and Dr. Allissa Richardson. Also on the Committee are current HFPA members Barbaros Tapan, Alessandra Venezia, Michele Manelis and HFPA president Helen Hoehne. The committee is expected to announce the HFPA’s new members by Friday.

The credentials committee is now at work reviewing the journalists who have applied to become HFPA members.

“We are so grateful that these five highly respected journalism professionals — each with diverse backgrounds and extensive experience in their fields — are devoting their time and energy to ensure an inclusive makeup of our Association,” said Hoehne, who was elected in September to her new role. “Just in the past few months we’ve changed our governance structure from top to bottom. Inclusion will be at the core of our new organization, and this new structure will allow us to not only grow, but continue to add unique, representative voices from journalists around the world.”

Anderson is currently editor-at-large for Toronto’s Xtra and co-host of the Maximum Fun podcast, FANTI, and formerly the director of culture and entertainment at Out magazine. Their credits also include four years at the Los Angeles Times. Anderson regularly contributes to the discourse of culture, LGBTQ issues, inclusivity and diversity.

Anzur is a media consultant and former KTLA anchor. She has also worked with stations in Rhode Island, West Virginia, Miami, Atlanta and Houston, as well as for CBS in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City and West Palm Beach, and was a Washington, D.C. correspondent for the NBC stations.

Hernandez is a journalist and CEO of Latin Heat Media. Moston is publicist with over 30 years of experience in the entertainment industry, including Disney/ABC, 20th Century Fox and Lifetime. Richardson is an author and assistant professor of journalism at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School.

The new HFPA Advisory Board oversaw the selection of these five new outside members of the revamped credentials committee. A class of new members will be announced within the week.

In the past several weeks, the HFPA announced the appointments of Shaka McGlotten, Santiago Pozo and Paula Williams Madison to the HFPA advisory board, as well as Jeff Harris, Dr. Joanna Dodd Massey and Sharlette Hambrick as the first independent board directors for the HFPA.

The credentials committee is charged with vetting potential members. Here’s the new criteria for applicants, as revised in August:

• Applicants can now work for any foreign publication medium: print, radio, television, online, or be a photojournalist. The previous requirement allowed only print journalists.
• Applicants can live anywhere in the United States. This replaces the former requirement of living solely in Southern California.
• Applicants must submit eight examples of their journalistic work product from the past two years. The credentials committee will set a required number of clippings in subsequent years.
• Eligibility is now expanded to journalists outside of those accredited by the Motion Picture Association (MPA).
• The sponsorship requirement is now eliminated and the role of the credentials committee will include third parties from credible journalistic and other organizations focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• New members will immediately be allowed to vote on the Golden Globes, vote on board members, and serve on committees.
• All current members will be required to meet the standards as incoming members for re-accreditation of their membership. This process will take place annually, and members may begin submitting materials to the credentials committee.

In May, the 85-member HFPA announced a timeline that would overhaul the organization, and in July, the HFPA approved the new set of bylaws that had been proposed to reform the organization, recruit more diverse and inclusive members and address the ethics and accountability issues that have long swirled around the organization.

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