WASHINGTON - A past president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists will appear on Capitol Hill Wednesday, Dec. 5 to testify against further media consolidation until the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) addresses how to increase minority broadcast ownership.
A past president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists appeared on Capitol Hill to testify against further media consolidation until the FCC addresses how to increase minority broadcast ownership.
Juan Gonzalez, NAHJ’s 2002-2004 president, will address the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet which is holding an FCC oversight hearing on minority media ownership. Gonzalez’s testimony will be streamed live on http://energycommerce.house.gov/membios/schedule.shtml.
As a representative of NAHJ, Gonzalez is also expected to talk about how further media consolidation would hurt journalism.
While people of color make up 35 percent of the U.S. population, they own just 3 percent of all local TV stations and 8 percent of all local radio stations, according to a recent study. NAHJ believes that increasing minority ownership will increase viewpoint diversity, a cornerstone of FCC policy. It will also broaden employment opportunities for people of color and programming for communities of color.
NAHJ and its presidents have for years expressed concern about the future of minority ownership. Gonzalez, a New York Daily News columnist, took on the issue during his term. In 2003, Gonzalez appeared with then NABJ President Condace L. Pressley at a roundtable discussion held by FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein on media localism, diversity, and competition.
NAHJ has worked with a number of organizations on this issue, including the Free Press which says that subcommittee members will likely grill FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin about his failure to address the crisis in minority media ownership, plans to eliminate the longstanding ban on newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership, and last week’s controversial decision to let Tribune Co. continue operating both newspapers and TV stations in five cities.
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Founded in 1984, NAHJ's mission is to increase the percentage of Latinos working in our nation's newsrooms and to improve news coverage of the Latino community. NAHJ is the nation's largest professional organization for Latino journalists with more than 2,300 members working in English and Spanish-language print, photo, broadcast and online media. NAHJ is a 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization. For more information, visit www.nahj.org.
About Free Press
Free Press is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media. Through education, organizing and advocacy, we promote diverse and independent media ownership, strong public media, and universal access to communications. Free Press is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media. Through education, organizing and advocacy, we promote diverse and independent media ownership, strong public media, and universal access to communications.
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists
1000 National Press Building
529 14th St., NW
Washington, DC 20045-2001, USA
E-mail: nahj@nahj.org
Phone: 202.662.7145
Fax: 202.662.7144
