Cristina Azocar and Lourdes Càrdenas were honored with the 2021 Distinguished Service to Journalism

Award by The Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California chapter for creating a Bilingual Spanish Journalism degree at San Francisco State University — the first public university in the country to offer such a credential — that will equip coming generations of journalists to better cover Spanish-speaking communities.

Azocar, a professor in the university’s journalism department, researches race and journalism and served as president of the Native American Journalists Association.

Càrdenas is an assistant professor in the journalism department and has worked as a journalist in U.S. and Mexican media for more than 25 years.