Latinos in West Palm Beach: WPTV Doing Better, But Still Room for Improvement

By Michele Gonzalez, Associate Parity Project Director

A group of about 40 concerned citizens attended WPTV NewsChannel 5’s follow-up Town Hall, Tuesday, December 11th in West Palm Beach, Florida. The station has formed a Hispanic community advisory committee as it attempts to make strides toward improving its outreach to the local Latino community.

Since 2003, WPTV has aired a public affairs show, Hablando con la communidad. It has its fans and detractors. An occasionally contentious exchange with the attendees during the town hall fostered many ideas to increase awareness and relevancy for the show.

The weekly show is broadcast on Sunday mornings at 5:30 a.m. and is also downloadable on the station’s website www.wptv.com/content/segments/hablando/default.aspx. It is hosted by NewsChannel 5’s Tania Rogers and Dori Robau in Spanish. The show includes a review of the week’s local news, interviews with local newsmakers and information on special events. Other contributors include NewsChannel 5’s longtime photojournalist Tony Araujo.

Hablando con la Communidad can also be seen on Palm Beach County Channel 20 on Monday’s at 10am and Fridays at 9:30 p.m. The show also airs on West Palm Beach Channel 18 on Sundays at 8 a.m.

Some in the Treasure Coast and West Palm Beach area felt that the 5:30 a.m. time slot was not reaching the community it was intended to serve. “This is just appeasement not a commitment to the community,” said Cathy Anaya-Wolf, Palm Beach County Director for ASPIRA.

Still others said they were able to download episodes of Hablando from the station’s Web site at their convenience.

WPTV Vice President and General Manager, Brian Lawlor, pointed out that the station must meet FCC and network requirements and is unable to give the show a later time slot on Sundays due to these constraints.

Concerns were also voiced about not seeing enough Latinos on air at WPTV. Dave Peterson, Managing Editor, reminded the audience that not all of WPTV’s employees work in front of the camera. There have been five internal promotions of Latinos from part-time to full-time influential newsroom positions. WPTV has also filled five other newsroom positions in the past year with Latinos. This is important to note as the journalism industry has faced many company cutbacks and layoffs as of late.

Among those hired at WPTV since the launch of the Parity Project at that station is reporter Marci Gonzalez, who is a member of NAHJ.

Generally, the Town Hall was well received with many focused comments and concerns. Blanca Suarez, who works for the City of West Palm Beach and is a member of WPTV’s Hispanic community advisory committee, said the station had made concerted efforts to improve coverage of Latinos and to take their concerns seriously.

Since its inception, the Parity Project has partnered with 26 media organizations that include outlets owned by the E.W. Scripps Company., Viacom, Media General, MediaNews Group Inc., Lee Enterprises, Inc., the Tribune Company and Landmark Communications, Inc. NAHJ has helped to place about 150 Latino journalists into full-time newsroom jobs since the inception of the Parity Project. And through the Parity Project, NAHJ has helped several news organizations to establish Hispanic Community Advisory Committees that have worked with news organizations to improve coverage of Latinos.

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

NAHJ’s Parity Project is intended to serve as an example to the entire journalism industry when it comes to improving newsroom diversity and coverage of diverse communities.