The Latino News Network (LNN) was founded in 2012 by veteran journalist, and former president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), Diane Alverio.
Responding to the gap in news coverage of the Hispanic-Latino community in her then-home state of Connecticut, Alverio launched LNN with CTLatinoNews.com. It was the first English-language news and information outlet dedicated to the Hispanic-Latino community in the state.
In 2019, LNN was acquired by nationally recognized journalist and media advocate, Hugo Balta. Under his leadership, Balta has expanded the statewide coverage, and Hispanic-Latino editorial focus to include independent news outlets in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
RI Latino News (RILN), and its five sister LNN newsrooms in New England and the Midwest apply the principles of solutions journalism in producing in-depth stories focused on the determinants of health and democracy.
Hugo Balta is the Publisher of the LNN. Balta is a 30-year journalism veteran with multiple market and platform experience that includes leadership positions in NBC, Telemundo, ABC, CBS, and PBS among other storied news networks. He is the twice president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ). Balta is based in Chicago, Illinois.
Belén Dumont is the Writer/Editor of LNN East. An experienced multimedia journalist, Dumont writes stories relevant to Hispanics-Latinos including the responses to social problems, providing insights by evaluating the evidence of what is working and not working, including what can be learned from the limitations (of a response). She also oversees all aspects of the editorial calendar for CTLatinoNews.com, MALatinoNews.com, and RILatinoNews.com. Dumont is based in the Hartford area and is a graduate of Emerson College.
The Latino News Network is proud and grateful for the support of the Solutions Journalism Network, Hearken, USC-Annenberg Center for Health Journalism, Medill School of Journalism, World Health Organization, Google News Initiative, Local Media Association, and the Journalism & Women Symposium for their support of our newsrooms mission.
LNN’s mission is to provide greater visibility and voice to the Hispanic-Latino community, amplify the work of others in doing the same, mentor and provide young journalists with real work experiences, and apply the principles of solutions journalism in producing stories focused on the determinants of health, and democracy.
