SPANISH-LANGUAGE NEWS:
Local Spanish-language television newscasts aired more stories about crime, immigration and Latin America than their English-language counterparts, according to a study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism. The study examined eight Spanish-language stations in the four largest U.S. Hispanic markets in March and April. Included were Houston, New York, Miami and Los Angeles. In each market, it examined both a Telemundo and Univisi¢n station. The study gave 'C' grades to coverage by both Spanish- and English-language stations. They aired a similar number of stories that were not particularly enterprising. While 20% of Spanish-language stories cited three or more sources vs. 15% on English-language news, 21% did not cite a single source vs. 4% on English news. The study found that Spanish-language stations reported "an extraordinary number of stories about police abuse" and that a third of all their stories were about crime.
Criminals or crime victims were more likely (27%) to be the stories' subject. That contrasted with 13% for English-language news, where the subjects were twice as likely to be lawyers or law enforcement officers. Immigration accounted for 9% of all stories on Spanish stations; but just 0.5% on English ones. Most Spanish stations aired a nightly roundup of Latin American news. For the report, visit Columbia Journalism Review's web site at www.cjr.org or pick up the Nov.-Dec. edition at news stands.
EEO RULES:
The Federal Communications Commission issued Nov. 7 new Equal Employment Opportunity rules that prohibit broadcasters and cable and satellite TV operators from discriminating against job applicants. They call for wide dissemination of information about job openings. This marks the latest effort to establish EEO regulations after the federal court struck down rules adopted in 2000.
UNITY PRESIDENT:
Ernest Sotomayor, Long Island editor for Newsday.com, was chosen president of UNITY: Journalists of Color Nov. 2 during the group's board meeting. He had been its vice president. Sotomayor represents the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
