NAHJ’s Parity Project A Hit at WPTV NewsChannel 5 in West Palm Beach, Florida

By Kevin Olivas, NAHJ Parity Project Director

During what normally is the worst of times for people in Florida, WPTV NewsChannel 5 was trying to offer Spanish-speakers what other English-language TV stations in West Palm Beach were not. That is, emergency information in Spanish.

About 55 people attended the launch of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ (NAHJ) Parity Project at the E.W. Scripps Co.-owned WPTV on April 11, 2006.

Some, like José Tagle of the City of West Palm Beach Mayor’s Office, complimented WPTV for running an informational crawl at the bottom of its broadcast in Spanish as that area was being hit by a series of hurricanes in 2005.

“Coverage of the hurricanes was tremendous,” Tagle said. “This was an excellent opportunity to reach out to the Latino community.”

In addition to running an informational crawl in Spanish, WPTV also ran information in Mixtec for indigenous people who don’t speak Spanish. But WPTV General Manager Brian Lawlor said not all were happy with this. “I received hundreds of e-mails from people who were angry that we had information in Spanish. But we have an obligation to serve the entire community and that includes Spanish-speakers.”

WPTV also airs a weekly half-hour public affairs show in Spanish called “Hablando Con La Comunidad,” which comes on at 5:30 in the morning, a program that Lawlor says has drawn ire from some in his viewership area, but praise from others who say there is no other regional Spanish-language television media outlet for information.

The town hall came the day after immigration-related demonstrations in various cities nationwide. About 5,000 people turned out in the Palm Beach County community of Lake Worth, Florida to protest proposed federal legislation to make it a felony to be in the U.S. without proper documentation.

NAHJ member and WPTV reporter Iris Guzman was singled out by those at the town hall for what many said was exemplary coverage of these demonstrations.

WPTV will be partnering with leaders of the Hispanic community in West Palm Beach and along an area of Florida’s Atlantic seaboard known as the Treasure Coast, which is a three-county area north of West Palm Beach that the station also serves.

Through this partnership, WPTV will be forming a community advisory committee as part of its participation in NAHJ’s Parity Project. This group will be made up of a cross-section of the area’s Hispanic community and people from the station.

Palm Beach County resident Leandro Ruiz urged WPTV’s staff and management to realize how diverse Florida’s Latino community is. “Is NewsChannel 5 prepared to cover every aspect of the Latino community in this area?” he asked during the town hall. Ruiz added, “From health and social issues and various other concerns here, the journalists at WPTV should note how different Latinos are, culture-to-culture, in this area.”

In addition to a large Cuban and Puerto Rican population, there are growing numbers of immigrants from México, Guatemala, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela and several other Latin American nations who are moving into the area.

“Our staff diversity and news coverage should mirror our community,” said WPTV Managing Editor Dave Peterson.

Elena Contreras, who is the vice president of a bank in West Palm Beach, added that WPTV should consider the history of Latinos in the area when seeking out news sources. “Not every Hispanic in this area is seeking a visa. We have successful Hispanic business people who have been here 30 to 40 years.”

WPTV is an NBC affiliate. It is the fourth television station to become involved in NAHJ’s Parity Project, following KCNC CBS 4 in Denver; WFLA News Channel 8 in Tampa and KNXV ABC 15 in Phoenix. That latter station is also owned by the E.W. Scripps Company.

The Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation is the primary funder of NAHJ’s Parity Project.

This program was founded in 2003 and now involves 24 media companies throughout the U.S. The intent of NAHJ’s Parity Project is to serve as a model for the entire journalism industry when it comes to improving newsroom diversity and coverage of diverse communities.