Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Where Are The Latino Journalists On U.S. English-Language News Networks?

Soledad O'Brien
Soledad O'Brien is no longer a host on CNN (she will remain as a "nonexclusive producer" for the news network).  It made me wonder, Where are the Latino journalists on English-language news networks in the United States? There is Elizabeth Vargas of news magazine "20/20" (ABC), Natalie Morales of NBC's "The Today Show" (although that is more entertainment than news), and... that's about it.

It is odd, considering the growing demographic that is Latinos/Hispanics in the United States (one of every six people have Latino/Hispanic ancestry according to the 2010 Census). And while there are many Latino journalists on television, they are too often relegated to working only on Spanish-language networks such as Telemundo or Univision. (Also interesting to note is the way Latina journalists in particular are presented in Spanish-language media versus English-language media.)

Check out this article by Julio Ricardo Varela of Latino Rebels on how mainstream U.S. television continues to ignore the growing Latino demographic (which starts off with the HOLA Award-winning journalist Soledad O'Brien) by clicking here.

Mansur Gidfar of Upworthy calls Soledad O'Brien "CNN's best journalist" in his blog which you can read here. You can also see a corresponding video there or by clicking on the video below.

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