VTMBH Article: Body
According to researchers, the explosive growth of the Latino population in the United States is not being reflected in the television news programs of the major networks and the cable station CNN.
On Monday, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) released data from their study, The Network Brownout Report. The study revealed that a mere 99 out of 16,000 (0.62 percent) stories reported last year on the evening news were related to Latinos or the Latino community.
The lamentable trajectory of the networks is that the coverage of the fastest growing minority group in the country contradicts the informational necessities of U. S. citizens and distorts the public discourse necessary in any democratic society, said NAHJ President Juan González.
Latinos, at 35.3 million, represent 12.5 percent of the population, a number which has grown almost 60 percent since 1990.
According to the study, television news stories tended to perpetuate unflattering stereotypes of Latinos.
The stories about Latinos generally used the border as an image to insinuate a division between Latino and non-Latino populations and to define Latinos as illegal immigrants, reported the NAHJ.
The network with the most coverage of Latinos was ABC with 31 stories, followed by NBC with 24, and CBS and CNN with 22 each.
The study maintained that a lack of diversity in the newsroom is one of the major causes of poor news coverage of Latinos.
Two networks responded that they were taking measures to increase coverage on Latino issues, namely retaining more Latino staff.
The data also revealed that for the second consecutive year the most reported story relevant to the Latino community was that of the U.S. military presence in Vieques. The other stories were related to politics, immigration and sports.
In one aspect there was a positive change. The proportion of news stories about Latinos in which Latinos themselves were interviewed grew to 67.6 percent, up from 24.4 percent in 2001.
The study was prepared by Serafín Méndez Méndez, an associate professor and chair of the Department of Communication at Central Connecticut State University, with former NAHJ President Diane Alverio.
On Monday, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) released data from their study, The Network Brownout Report. The study revealed that a mere 99 out of 16,000 (0.62 percent) stories reported last year on the evening news were related to Latinos or the Latino community.
The lamentable trajectory of the networks is that the coverage of the fastest growing minority group in the country contradicts the informational necessities of U. S. citizens and distorts the public discourse necessary in any democratic society, said NAHJ President Juan González.
Latinos, at 35.3 million, represent 12.5 percent of the population, a number which has grown almost 60 percent since 1990.
According to the study, television news stories tended to perpetuate unflattering stereotypes of Latinos.
The stories about Latinos generally used the border as an image to insinuate a division between Latino and non-Latino populations and to define Latinos as illegal immigrants, reported the NAHJ.
The network with the most coverage of Latinos was ABC with 31 stories, followed by NBC with 24, and CBS and CNN with 22 each.
The study maintained that a lack of diversity in the newsroom is one of the major causes of poor news coverage of Latinos.
Two networks responded that they were taking measures to increase coverage on Latino issues, namely retaining more Latino staff.
The data also revealed that for the second consecutive year the most reported story relevant to the Latino community was that of the U.S. military presence in Vieques. The other stories were related to politics, immigration and sports.
In one aspect there was a positive change. The proportion of news stories about Latinos in which Latinos themselves were interviewed grew to 67.6 percent, up from 24.4 percent in 2001.
The study was prepared by Serafín Méndez Méndez, an associate professor and chair of the Department of Communication at Central Connecticut State University, with former NAHJ President Diane Alverio.