Press Release

NAHJ Disturbed by Significant Decline of Latinos Working in Management at Nation’s Broadcast Stations

Washington, D.C. -- The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is disturbed by the significant decline in the percentage of Latinos working in newsroom management at local English-language TV stations as well as the dramatic drop in the Latino newsroom work force in radio.

According to the annual newsroom survey released today by the Radio and Television News Directors Association, Hispanic news directors working at English-language television stations dropped from 2.8 percent in 2005 to 1.3 percent in 2006.

In addition, the percentage of Latino news directors working in radio dropped from 8.8 percent to 1.3 percent and the overall Latino radio work force fell from 6 percent to 1.9 percent.

Despite several discouraging trends, NAHJ was encouraged by the increase in the percentage of Latinos working at English-language stations (6.7 percent to 7.7 percent) as well as the increase in the overall minority newsroom work force (19.5 percent to 20.4 percent).

“We are concerned that the glass ceiling is becoming even more difficult to crack for Latinos,” said NAHJ President Rafael Olmeda. “The immigration protests that took place across the country in recent months demonstrated how out of touch many English-language media companies were with the Latino community. The lack of Latinos in decision-making positions continues to remain a major reason why this disconnect exists.”

Olmeda added, “The decline of Latinos working in radio is further discouraging because it remains a vital medium for the Latino community as witnessed by the recent protests.”

NAHJ applauds RTNDA for including the ethnic and racial newsroom make up of local Spanish-language TV newsrooms. The study found that Latinos make up 72.5 percent of the overall work force at these stations.