The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced that five distinguished outside journalism professionals have joined its Credentials Committee to screen and select new Association members — one of the most important steps of their comprehensive reform plan announced in May.

Appointed to the nine-member Credentials Committee to help select new members to join the HFPA are: Tre’Vell Anderson, Terry Anzur, Bel Hernandez, Toni Moston, and Dr. Allissa Richardson. Work is already underway to review the current pool of journalists who have applied to become HFPA members. Also on the Committee are current HFPA members Barbaros Tapan, Alessandra Venezia, Michele Manelis, and President Helen Hoehne. Below is a brief description of each new member, with full biographies following below:

• Tre’Vell Anderson –  One of the leading journalists contributing to the discourse of culture, LGBTQ issues, inclusivity, and diversity.
• Terry Anzur – Author, former TV anchor, and a sought-after media coach for journalists.
• Bel Hernandez – Award-winning journalist and CEO of Latin Heat Media.
• Toni B. Moston – Publicist with over 30 years of experience in the entertainment industry, whose career spans both domestic and global projects.
• Dr. Allissa Richardson – Author and Assistant Professor of Journalism at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School.

“We are so grateful that these five highly respected journalism professionals — each with diverse backgrounds and extensive experience in their fields — are donating their time and energy to ensure an inclusive makeup of our Association,” said HFPA President Helen Hoehne. “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.”

The new HFPA Advisory Board oversaw the selection of these five new outside members of the revamped Credentials Committee, with a class of new members to 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.

It is the sole responsibility of the Credentials Committee to ensure potential members meet the proper requirements. To create a more inclusive Association, the criteria for new member applicants was overhauled in August:

• Applicants can now work for any foreign publication medium: print, radio, television, online, or be a photojournalist.
• 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.

New Credentials Committee Member Full Bios:

• Tre’vell Anderson (they/them) is an award-winning journalist, social curator, and world changer who always comes to slay! Named to The Root’s 2020 list of the 100 most influential African Americans, they have dedicated their career to centering those in the margins, grey spaces, and at the intersections of life through a pop culture lens. Tre’vell is currently Editor-At-Large for Toronto’s Xtra and co-host of the Maximum Fun podcast, FANTI. Formerly the Director of Culture and Entertainment at Out magazine, Tre’vell got their start in journalism at the Los Angeles Times where they created the beat of diversity in Hollywood with a focus on Black and queer film. During their four years at The Times, they covered every major red carpet in Hollywood, interviewed everyone from Viola Davis and Ava DuVernay to fashion icon André Leon Talley and spearheaded projects that received industry-wide attention. Over the course of their career, their work has been recognized by the Online News Association, National Association of Black Journalists, NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists, the Shorty Awards, and the Los Angeles Press Club among others. A native of Charleston, SC, Tre’vell received their Bachelor’s degree in sociology from “the nation’s headquarters for Black male excellence,” Morehouse College. A year later, they earned their Master’s degree in journalism from Stanford University. In 2018, they received the “Passing the Torch Award” from Better Brothers Los Angeles for their work in media and representing the LGBTQ+ community. In 2019, they were recognized as one of Empowerment Congress’s “40 Under 40.” Tre’vell is the immediate past president of the National Association of Black Journalists of Los Angeles (NABJLA), co-chair of NABJ’s LGBTQ Task Force, and the organization’s Region IV Director. A well sought-after moderator and commentator, they’ve made appearances on MSNBC, NPR, Fox Business Network, NBC Nightly News, Good Morning America, and Entertainment Tonight Live.

• Terry Anzur is the co-author of “Power Performance: Storytelling for Multimedia Journalism and Public Relations,” and a sought-after media coach for journalists. Terry developed her coaching techniques while serving as an assistant professor on the faculty of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, in Los Angeles. The weekly TV news magazine program produced by her students was seen in three million Southern California cable households and was honored with a National College Emmy Award, the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Award, and the Hearst Awards in college journalism. Former students are now thriving at CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, and local TV stations throughout the country. In 2002, Terry was elected National Chair for Teaching Standards of the Radio Television Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. In Los Angeles, Terry co-anchored “KTLA News at Ten” from 1997 to 2000, winning a Golden Mike award from the Southern California Radio-Television News Association for Best Prime Time Newscast. On the national scene, Terry is best known as the co-anchor of “In Depth,” a two-hour, daily, interactive news program on America’s Talking, the NBC cable network that became MSNBC. Terry also anchored the morning newscast for KCBS-TV in Los Angeles and served as the station’s political editor from 1990 to 1994. She filled in as a national anchor for both CBS News “Up to the Minute” and “CNN Morning News.” She came to Los Angeles from WCBS-TV in New York, where she anchored and reported for all broadcasts. Terry is accredited by the US State Department as a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Broadcast Journalism and was selected for the roster of qualified media trainers by the United Nations Development Program. As lead consultant for the Maldives Media Training Project, she managed a team of radio, TV, and management trainers for state-run TV Maldives and Voice of Maldives trained the country’s first professional broadcast journalists and prepared them to cover the Muslim island nation’s first multi-party democratic election. In 2012 she was one of six Americans selected for the Pakistan-US Journalist Exchange, sponsored by the East-West Center in Hawaii, the US Embassy in Islamabad, and PILDAT. She traveled to Ethiopia on a Reporting Fellowship from the International Center for Journalists in 2013. She has taught anchors, reporters, and program hosts for VTV, the state broadcaster in Vietnam. Born in Delaware and raised in Southern California, Terry is a graduate of Stanford University, majoring in communication, and earned a Dow Jones Newspaper Fund editing scholarship. Her broadcast career included numerous stints across the country including Chicago, IL where she won an Emmy in 1982 for coverage of Chicago’s Roman Catholic Church and traveled to Poland under martial law to document the Solidarity movement and the delivery of humanitarian aid, earning the prestigious Peter Lisagor Award for feature reporting. While serving as a national correspondent for the NBC-owned stations in Washington DC in 1986, Terry was named a finalist in NASA’s journalist-in-space program. She has twice participated in the RIAS exchange program for German and American broadcast journalists. Terry and her husband live in Florida. Their son, Andrew Anzur Clement Ph.D., is a novelist based in Slovenia. A member of the Screen Actors Guild, she has played the role of a newscaster in popular films including “The Perfect Storm,” “Wag the Dog,” and in promotional content for the “X-Men” films. She has appeared in TV movies and series, including Bravo’s “Real Housewives of Orange County,” ABC’s “Pushing Daisies” and a recurring role on NBC’s “Providence.”

• Bel Hernandez, dubbed as “The Godmother of Latino Hollywood” by Moviemaker Magazine, is the CEO of Latin Heat Media, a multi-media company whose mission is to create content by Latinos, about Latinos, for universal audiences. Bel wears many hats under the Latin Heat brand including Publisher of Latin Heat Entertainment, Executive Producer and Co-Host of TheTRENDTalk Show, and Co-founder of LATINAFest. Bel has been recognized for her journalist endeavors by the Hispanic Public Relations Association, Latina Style Magazine, La Opinion, Hispanic Lifestyle, National Hispanic Health Foundation, National Hispanic Media Coalition, the City of Los Angeles, and served on the George Foster Peabody Award for six years, the last as the first Latina/o Chair. Latin Heat Media (LHM) is a multi-media company providing media content on and about U.S. Latinos delivering through editorial, TV, Film, and online video content.  Latin Heat’s unprecedented coverage has supported the growing impact of Latinos in Hollywood. Considered the third entertainment trade in Hollywood by many, Latin Heat provides business news coverage, latest breaking industry news, talent profiles, TV & films news, spotlight on talent in front and behind the camera, and inside research not found anywhere else on Latinos in Hollywood.  Under the Latin Heat Media umbrella there are three main properties: Our website, our talk show TheTRENDTalk, and LATINAFest: Mind, Body & Soul.

• Toni B. Moston: With over 30 years of experience in the entertainment industry, Toni Moston has crafted a robust career that has bridged both the domestic and international landscape. With her decades of experience as a television publicist, Moston has worked on numerous award-winning series at legacy studios, networks and agencies. An Angeleno whose passion for television started at a young age, Moston’s path in the entertainment industry began as an assistant at MPRM where she worked across their slate television clients. Moston would then make her way in-house as a Senior Publicist at the major networks beginning with CBS, followed by FOX, where she worked on several high-profile series in domestic publicity. Moston also gained additional production publicity experience as the Director of Media Relations at Steven Bochco Productions. Shifting into the studio world and international publicity, Moston joined Warner Brothers as the Director of Worldwide Television Publicity and Talent Relations. There she was responsible for developing global publicity campaigns for such fan-favorite and award-winning series as “ER,” “Two and a Half Men,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “The West Wing,” “The O.C.,” “Sopranos,” “Six Feet Under” and “Gossip Girl.” From coordinating on-set press visits to traveling talent internationally to secure print, radio, and television interviews, Moston helped guide the overall global press strategy of the Warner Bros. series in coordination with international broadcasters. Continuing her career in international publicity at 20th Century Fox Television Distribution, Moston served as the Executive Director, International Publicity, Talent Relations, and Events. Moston developed and executed worldwide publicity campaigns for such award-winning series as “Homeland,” “This Is Us,” “Modern Family,” “The X-Files,” “Prison Break,” “Sons of Anarchy,” and “New Girl.” She was also responsible for planning festival and press opportunities at MIPCOM, TCA, and the Monte Carlo Television Festival, as well as liaising on behalf of the television studio with the HFPA in scheduling and planning press conferences for awards consideration. Before joining 20th Century Fox, Moston also held PR positions at Lifetime Television, Disney/ABC Television International, and Stand Up 2 Cancer. She is a member of the Public Relations Peer Group. Moston spends her free time volunteering with such organizations as CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort), One Generation, APLA, LA Regional Food Bank, and Tarzana Providence Hospital.

• Dr. Allissa V. Richardson is an Assistant Professor of Journalism at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School. She researches how African Americans use mobile and social media to produce innovative forms of journalism — especially in times of crisis. Dr. Richardson is the author of Bearing Witness While Black: African Americans, Smartphones and the New Protest #Journalism (Oxford University Press, 2020). The book explores the lives of 15 mobile journalist-activists who documented the Black Lives Matter movement using only their smartphones and Twitter, from 2014 to 2018. Dr. Richardson’s research is informed by her award-winning work as an instructor and journalist. She is considered a pioneer in mobile journalism (MOJO), having launched the first smartphone-only college newsroom in 2010. The MOJO Lab, based on the campus of Morgan State University in Baltimore, was the only American college to boast such a program at the time. Dr. Richardson expanded the MOJO Lab curriculum throughout the continent of Africa, creating classes for allied nonprofit organizations in Morocco and South Africa. The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) said Richardson empowered her students around the globe “to speak truth to power using new media.” NABJ recognized her as its 2012 Journalism Educator of the Year for her international work. Apple, Inc. inducted Dr. Richardson into its elite Distinguished Educator program for her innovative uses of its products the following year. She is also a recipient of two prestigious Harvard University posts: the Nieman Foundation’s Visiting Journalism Fellowship and the Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society Fellowship. Dr. Richardson’s research has been published in Journal of Communication, Digital Journalism, Journalism Studies, The Black Scholar, and many other venues. She has lectured to diverse and wide-ranging audiences around the world—from SXSW to Snapchat, Microsoft, and the NFL. Her expertise in mobile media activism has made her a frequent commentator for news outlets such as ABC, BBC, CBC, Columbia Journalism Review, Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, NPR, Teen Vogue, and Vox. Dr. Richardson is also a sought-after educational technology consultant who has designed courses for Google, YouTube, and PBS. Dr. Richardson serves on the editorial boards of Digital Journalism and the International Journal of Communication. She is an affiliated researcher with New York University’s Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies (CR + DS) also. Dr. Richardson holds a Ph.D. in Journalism Studies from the University of Maryland College Park; a Master’s Degree in Magazine Publishing from Northwestern University’s Medill School; and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the Xavier University of Louisiana, where she was named a “Top 40 Under 40” alumna.