Washington -- NAHJ President Veronica Villafañe called the lack of news coverage by English-language media of the destruction caused by mudslides in Guatemala as a result of Hurricane Stan “shameful.”

Some reports stated that Hurricane Stan is responsible for hundreds, if not thousands, of deaths in Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico. Guatemala, however, was hardest hit with the highest casualty figures. The mudslides have left thousands of Guatemalans homeless.

“According to the vice president of Guatemala, the catastrophe has affected 3.5 million people,” said Villafañe. “Yet there's hardly any coverage. It's shameful.”

NAHJ performed a search of 22 major daily newspapers from Oct. 7-10 using the Lexis-Nexis database and found that a total of 10 stories ran about the tragedy and only one newspaper, the Washington Post, placed a story about the disaster on its front page. In addition, the network evening news only devoted a total of four stories to the Guatemalan mudslides from Oct.7-9, although three were only mere mentions of less than 50 words.

"The loss of life due to catastrophic events is a tragedy no matter where it takes place,” said Villafañe. “It usually prompts news coverage and immediate help, as was the case after the tsunami hit Southeast Asia, after hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast and just this past weekend, after an earthquake leveled parts of Pakistan. But what seems appalling is that the destruction of Hurricane Stan in Central America has been virtually ignored by the U.S. media.”

The English-language news media in this country have historically failed to cover issues affecting Latin America despite the relationship that many people living in the United States have with countries in the region.

“It's about time that U.S. media outlets - whether print, television or radio- truly start producing world news coverage” said Villafañe. “As it stands today, it seems that the ‘world’ is only the Middle East. There's a bigger world out there. One that is being ignored by the English-language media in this country. The stories of pain and loss of life in Guatemala and of all the victims of Hurricane Stan should be told. Their loss is just as real and the destruction just as great."