NETWORKBROWNOUT:
The percentage of stories about Latinos that aired on the evening network newscasts declined from 1.3% in 1999 to 0.53% in 2000, according to the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ 2001 “Network Brownout” report.
The report found that out of 16,000 news stories aired on ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN last year, only 84 were about Latinos. CNN was included in the study for the first time this year. In 1999, out of12,000 news stories, only 162 were about Latinos.
Out of the 84 stories about Latinos, 27 were about the U.S. Navy’s bombing exercises on Vieques, followed by 16stories about migration and 13 on Election 2000/politics.
Stories about the custody battle over Elián González were tallied separately. The report called the González story an “anomaly.” There were 348 stories broadcast about him in 2000, accounting for 2.1% of all TV news stories that aired.
Author Serafín Méndez-Méndez stated that it did not represent “the normal distribution and frequency of stories found by this research initiative since (it began in)1996.”
The report observed that salsa and mariachi music were used in several occasions regardless of the seriousness of the story. It also found that Latinos are often presented in crowds of “brown human hordes walking down narrow corridors or streets.”
The report was funded by the NAHJ, the National Council of La Raza and Baldwin/Alverio Media Marketing.
NO TOSALE:
Chinese-American leaders in the San Francisco Bay area have asked the Federal Communications Commission to block the sale of Mandarin-language station KPST-TV (Channel 66) to the Spanish-language network Univisión. They argue it would deprive Mandarin speakers of a vital source of information. Channel 66 is one of two Mandarin stations in the Bay Area.
One of the biggest media stories of the year was NBC’s announcement it will purchase the Spanish-language network Telemundo for $2 billion. NBC’s decision would later be contested by a coalition of national Hispanic organizations.
