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Tag Archives: Latinos in the Media

FAIR Looks at Where the Latin@s in Media Are and Aren’t

September 10th, 2012

The national media watch group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) just released their latest issue of their monthly magazine Extra!. I think this particular issue will be of interest to VivirLatino readers as it is dedicated it to looking at Latin@s in the media.

Julie Holler, Managing Editor of Extra!, looks at where the Latinos aren’t. She writes in Missing Latino Voices :

While people of color and women have always been underrepresented in U.S. media, Latinos consistently stand out—in the coverage as well as inside the newsroom—for their exceptionally paltry numbers relative to their population size.

And if new media was to be the great brown hope for both Latino media makers and those hoping to see themselves reflected, yours truly begs to differ in Latinos in New Media On the verge of a breakthrough—or breakdown. As a longtime blogger myself, I was excited to get to interview some of my favorite Latinos in new media and ask them what’s going on. In it I write:

Many bloggers, though, note a downward shift over the past five years, in audience numbers and participation, which leaves many wondering: Are new media struggling with corporatization the way traditional media have been? Or have Twitter and the rise of mobile technology killed the Internet star?

Speaking of stars, there is interview in the issue with a Latina who has been working hard representing, Maria Hinojosa. In ‘You Have a Picture; See How Complex It Is?’ Hinojosa tells Janine Jackson :

I felt that from the moment I walked in the doors at NPR in Washington in 1985, that it was me that was opening the door, but that I was carrying this very heavy weight of responsibility. And that was the thing that motivated me, essentially, to be fearless—because I was scared. I was like a fish out of water.

I have been a long time fan of FAIR’s work so it was an honor to write for them and it’s really wonderful to have them look at Latin@s in the media and walk their talk, by having independent media makers provide perspective while looking at the full scope of the successes and challenges Latin@s face in the media.

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The Overly Sensitive Latino Stereotype (Via Rick Sanchez)

January 10th, 2011

My position on Rick Sanchez hasn’t changed since he was fired from CNN last fall. I didn’t have an opinion on Sanchez then, I don’t have an opinion on Sanchez now. It is fascinating to watch how his comments, his firing from CNN and it’s aftermath are still being covered in the media though.

This morning, I came across an interview with the Cuban journalist on Daily Beast. It is not a site I visit regularly, but it caught my eye, especially it’s framing as the “first major interview since being fired”. What also caught my eye was it’s framing as Sanchez as a Latino stereotype.

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Media Minuto : Newsweek’s Media Power Player List = 2 Latinos, 1 Woman of Color

November 8th, 2010

Newsweek, a corporate media giant, decides in it’s latest issue to go the route of the expected and link money with media power with it’s The Power 50 list, a listing of the most influential, meaning wealthy, players in the mainstream media today.

As if having Rush Limbaugh as number one and on the cover weren’t scary and problematic enough, the lack of people of color overall, and women of color specifically points to how little value “the news” places on our realities and our ability to relate them. If we don’t have the cash, in the eyes of the power that be, we don’t have a voice. I was especially thinking about this in terms of so-called independent media, organizations with non-profit status, and how many of them do (or don’t) prominently feature the work and words of women of color.

The Latinos that were mentioned on the Power 50 list were both males. From Hispanically Speaking News :

With a whooping $4 million of approximate earnings last year, leading newsman at Univision Jorge Ramos, who reaches more than 45 million Hispanic Americans daily, tied at position nineteen with talk show host Bill Maher, and—wait for it—The president of the nation, Barack Obama! Ramos, likely earns six figures for his syndicated weekly column (published by more than 30 newspapers), has published 10 books in 10 years, and officially, has become the most influential Latino.

The other Latino on the list, is rumored to have made one million dollars last year. He hosts the most listened to radio show in the United States “Piolín por la Mañana,” and it’s quite likely that if Eduardo Sotelo doesn’t ring a bell, it’s because he does all his influencing through his pseudonym, “Piolín.” A Univision representative suggested Eduardo Sotelo “uses this platform to ensure Hispanics are well informed and empowered to have their voices heard through their civic participation.”

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