Padilla is Column One editor and Metpro director of the Times. Column One is the newspaper’s showcase front-page feature and Metpro is a two-year fellowship aimed at promoting diversity in the newsroom. Padilla joined the Times in 1987 as a police reporter but soon moved on to editing. He helped guide the Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of a botched bank robbery in North Hollywood in 1997.
In his talk with students, Padilla suggested that sentences "end with gusto." He also discussed the value of dialogue instead of solitary quotes. In addition, he pointed out that a great headline in print is likely not a good headline on the web. Padilla also discussed the best ways for an applicant to assemble a job application that will get attention.
The NAHJ chapter president, Emma Fox, coordinated the event. Fox is a former Times intern.