She often has to "beg" leaders to give her information and let her know what's going on. Quiroz, who has run La Prensa for 13 years, says it's her job to inform residents who don't follow the English-language media but depend on local TV newscasts and newspapers in Spanish.

"This section of the community shouldn't be overlooked anymore," she says.

So when Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. met with Quiroz and other journalists Thursday afternoon, she says she was "excited" that the Spanish-language media is finally being recognized and respected.

Huntsman sat at a large wooden table with journalists for a 30-minute news conference open to questions about minority issues.

The governor's board room was filled with about 20 journalists, including three TV photographers - one from a Spanish-language TV station. Huntsman was also flanked by seven representatives from the Office of Ethnic Affairs, and Department of Community and Culture Director Yvette Donosso Diaz.

Huntsman said he plans to organize a monthly news conference to answer questions focused on "ethnic issues." He said he might schedule the meetings at different places in the community.

Huntsman said he came up with the idea because many journalists work for small news organizations that have a limited number of staffers. He said he wants to be equally accessible for the ethnic and mainstream media.

"I want them to feel welcomed and to participate and feel engaged," Huntsman said after the news conference.

During Thursday's meeting, journalists asked mostly about the effects of the federal No Child Left Behind education law on the state's minority students.

Huntsman, who took office in January, also has a monthly news conference that airs on KUED. But, he said ethnic-media journalists rarely show up.

Quiroz said no representative of her twice-a-month, 10,000-circulation paper was ever invited to the KUED news conference. But on Thursday morning, she attended her first one, where she was the only minority journalist.

Jesus Lopez Jr., editor of the weekly El Est‡ndar based in Ogden, said he likes the idea that ethnic news conferences will focus on minority issues, which are sometimes ignored by the mainstream media.

D.C. Lee, the editor of the Korean Times of Utah, said Huntsman has been very accessible compared with other government leaders. The twice-a-month Korean-language newspaper started about 10 years ago and has a circulation of around 1,500, Lee said.

Lee, who has worked at the Times for about 18 months, said the ethnic news conferences show Huntsman is open to working with minority communities.

"We've never had this opportunity to talk to a governor on this level," he said. "His door is open to the public."