The Art of Accompaniment: How Catholic Media Professionals Can Tell the Stories of Vulnerable Communities
Build trust and tell migrant stories with compassion and integrity.
Zoom link will be emailed
Event Details
Catholic media professionals have a unique responsibility when it comes to telling the stories of vulnerable communities, including our migrant brothers and sisters. Join us to learn how communicators and journalists can build trust over time — collaborating with Catholic Charities, Hispanic ministry leaders and affected communities themselves — to speak alongside vulnerable populations, not for them.
J.D. Long Garcia is a senior editor at America Media, where he covers U.S. Catholics with Latin American roots, with a focus on immigration. Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, he previously served as editor of The Catholic Sun in Phoenix and of Angelus and Vida Nueva in Los Angeles. A past president of the Catholic Media Association, he is the author of A Journalism of Liberation (Paulist Press, 2026) and co-author, with Colt Anderson, of Clericalism (2026).
Astrid Liden is the Communications Officer for the Hope Border Institute, a Catholic research, advocacy and humanitarian organization on the US-Mexico border that supports faith leaders in leading a renewed voice on immigration amid mass deportations. She has previously worked with Jesuit Migration Service-Chile, UNHCR Colombia and USCCB Migration & Refugee Services. She holds a BA from Columbia University and master’s degrees in Refugee & Forced Migration Studies and Public Policy from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. A proud Minnesotan with Venezuelan, Swedish and Italian family roots, Astrid now calls El Paso home.