Today, we’re more connected to news and world issues than we’ve ever been before. Yet, throughout the history of mass media in the United States, Hispanics and Latinos have largely been underrepresented. Linguistic and socioeconomic barriers between Latino and mainstream culture limited our access to traditional news sources and also narrowed our participation in public discourse forums offered by newspaper opinion pages.
As the U.S. Latino population continues to grow, it is imperative that we include greater diversity in mainstream media in order to allow for a more accurate representation of our diverse country, and more equal participation in our democracy.
{mosads}That’s why I’m proud to be a part of the launch of The Hill’s new Latino-focused section, The Hill Latino. The Hill Latino is a partnership with Latino magazine, under the leadership of The Hill’s Rafael Bernal, that will feature content from both media companies, along with commentary from thought leaders in the Latino community such as Esther Cepeda, Maria Cardona, Patricia Guadalupe and others.
As a leading Capitol Hill-focused publication, The Hill is an institution among policymakers and thought leaders in Washington and beyond. Launched in 1994, its primary mission is straightforward policy and political coverage. By partnering with Latino magazine and harnessing its unique understanding of the Latino community, The Hill Latino will surely open up a much-needed new space for discussion of key issues to Latinos in the U.S.
The Hill’s mission has resonated with Latinos. Currently, about 17 percent — or 1.8 million individuals — of the publication’s monthly web visitors self-identify as Hispanic or Latino. This is part of the 11 million unique visitors the website hosts every month, a number that is itself up 178 percent from last year.
The need for creating a new Latino-focused space in the media should be clear.
First, the tone of coverage of Hispanics in the media demands it. Recent research done by Frances Negrón-Muntaner, director of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race at Columbia University, found that in both 2012 and 2013, the only top news story featuring a Latino was that of George Zimmerman, who shot and killed Trayvon Martin in Florida. In a similar crime-related vein, she also found that the death of teacher Vicki Soto at Sandy Hook Elementary also received significant coverage. Negrón-Muntaner’s team found that in one of the nation’s most influential news broadcasts, Latinos were involved in 1.8 percent of the stories — and 64 percent were about crime and illegal entry. They found in both studies that Latino men tend to be represented as perpetrators and Latinas as victims.
Secondly, Latinos are generally excluded from opinion commentary opportunities in the media. Negrón-Muntaner shows that Latinos are consistently excluded from talk shows, with an average showing of less than 3 percent across all networks.
Studies have shown that most Latinos in the United States who follow the news regularly watch TV news programs. But, according to Negrón-Muntaner’s research, none of the 22 principal anchors in 2014 featured in the top 19 English-language primetime newscasts in the U.S. were Latino.
Unfortunately, the situation isn’t much better on these shows’ production staffs. Negrón-Muntaner estimated that less than 2 percent of national TV producers were Latino, and no executive producers were Latino.
Employment numbers for Latinos in other parts of the media are similar. For instance, in a 2015 survey taken by the American Society of News Editors, the majority of participating newspapers had no Latinos on staff.
The combination of types of coverage and representation in the newsroom should give pause to anyone who believes in the need for the press to fairly present a story from all sides of those involved. How can news outlets realistically accomplish this when they have so few Hispanics on staff and tend to gravitate toward crime-related stories for them?
The answer is they can’t. That is why I am looking forward to the positive contributions The Hill Latino can make to substantive discussions about the good being done by members of our community, as well as the larger issues shaping us a culture today.
Cuellar has represented Texas’s 28th Congressional District since 2005 and served as Texas secretary of State 2001–2002. He sits on the Appropriations committee.