NHMC focuses on a number of issues in Los Angeles, Washington, DC and across the country
to make sure that the Latino community plays a large role in the future of media. Please
use the following links to our 2013 Policy Priorities for more information about what we've
been working on lately.
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Campaign Against Hate Speech
NHMC will continue to fight the harms caused by hate speech in media by asking the federal
government to examine the relationship between hate speech and hate crimes. NHMC will, in
collaboration with the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, produce several studies analyzing
the incidence and effects of hate speech. NHMC will hold local broadcasters accountable for
irresponsible anti-Latino rhetoric, and will promote civil online discourse and seek to curtail.
Campaign Against Jose Luis Sin Censura
On August 8, 2012, Liberman Broadcasting permanently removed Jose Luis Sin Censura from
its broadcast schedule. This move was a direct result of months of intense pressure from NHMC
and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. In early 2011, NHMC and GLAAD filed a
complaint with the FCC against KRCA-Los Angeles and Liberman Broadcasting for the repeated
broadcast of indecent, profane, and obscene material over the public airwaves on Jose Luis Sin
Censura. The program also frequently contained defamatory language and violence that
targeted gay men, Latinos, and women. The FCC complaint is still outstanding.
Campaign To Take John & Ken Off The Air
For years, John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou, hosts of "The John and Ken Show" on the radio
station, KFI, have terrorized Los Angeles’ Latino, Asian American and African American
communities, creating an atmosphere of hate and intolerance and legitimizing violence and
discrimination against members of these groups. NHMC and a number of partners have decided
that enough is enough and launched a campaign to remove John & Ken from the radio and TV
so that they will no longer harm our community.
Studies show that Latinos, African Americans and the poor lag behind other demographic
groups when it comes to broadband adoption, and that cost is a primary barrier to adoption.
Many educational and occupational opportunities are only available online, thus broadband is
a necessary tool for success. NHMC will continue to advocate that the universal service fund,
currently used to subsidize telephone connections in rural areas and in poor households, be
extended to subsidize broadband Internet as well.
Media Industry Diversity
Latinos comprise over 16% of the U.S., but only own a handful of TV and radio stations.
NHMC will advocate for policies and opportunities to diversify broadcast and other media
platforms, in terms of ownership, leadership and employment. It will seek greater
transparency from media companies on their diversity figures. It will monitor and report on
diversity efforts at ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and Comcast pursuant to Memoranda of Understanding
it has with those entities. Finally, NHMC will celebrate passage of the Local Community Radio
Act by educating individuals and organizations about how to apply for their own low power
radio stations so that they may bring more diverse voices to their local airwaves.
Network Neutrality
The Internet is a democratizing force where Latinos, and others that mainstream media has
pushed aside for decades, can tell their stories fairly and accurately. At the end of 2010, the
FCC issued an order to ensure that Internet service providers not be allowed to block or
degrade access to any content. Unfortunately, the FCC did not fully extend these rules to
mobile Internet service providers. This is a big problem because many Latinos rely exclusively
on their mobile phones to get online. NHMC will urge the FCC to strengthen its mobile rules,
and will monitor and report to the FCC any mobile providers that are acting unfairly or in
contravention of the new rules.
Consumer Protection
The evolution of technology brings with it not only wonderful innovations that make our lives
easier, but also new dangers and opportunities for companies to abuse their power in billing
and privacy. NHMC will provide the latest consumer protection information on its web-site,
and will fight for policies to protect individuals from predatory business practices, exorbitant
prices and privacy violations.
Positive Portrayals of Latinos in Media
This year NHMC celebrates its 25th year of improving the image of Latinos as portrayed by
the media. NHMC anticipates that Latinos will face unique challenges in 2011, as anti-Latino,
anti-immigrant measures continue to spring up across the country. NHMC will hold media
accountable if they fail to provide accurate and balanced portrayals of Latinos in news and
entertainment programming. NHMC will continue its work to ensure more employment and
procurement opportunities for Latinos in media.
Low Power FM Radio
NHMC worked with a coalition of organizations headed by the Prometheus Radio Project, to
ardently support the expansion of low power FM (LPFM) radio throughout the country. LPFM
stations provide new channels for those seeking to broadcast to the public. As traditional
broadcast stations have expensive barriers to entry, LPFM stations are cheaper and provide
an excellent way for Latinos and other people of color to be heard over the airwaves. There
are about 800 low-power stations already on the air. They broadcast from college campuses,
garages, backyard shacks, and local churches, and are aimed specifically at listeners in their
surrounding neighborhoods. And many air more than just independent music. Some are
providing local news and information that, in extreme cases, have kept people alive. The Local
Community Radio Act passed at the end of the 111th Congress, and President Obama signed
it into law in early January, 2011 and organizations interested in starting a station should
begin the process now.
Prison Phone Justice
Calls from prisons, jails, juvenile and immigrant detention centers cost up to twenty-four
times as much as normal calls, making it nearly impossible for many prisoners and detainees to
communicate with their families. These rates have risen as rates for the rest of the population
have dropped, as fifteen minute phone calls can cost up to $18 or more! Corporations and
governments profit from this injustice while at the same time Latino children are uniquely
harmed by this price-gouging as 1 out of 28 American Latino children have an incarcerated
parent. NHMC is working with a coalition to eliminate incarceration profiteering and government
kickbacks to ensure that the poor have the same opportunities to communicate with family and
legal counsel as the wealthy.
AT&T/T-Mobile Transaction
On December 19, 2011, after facing intense opposition from the government,
NHMC, and others, AT&T officially dropped its bid to acquire T-Mobile USA.
NHMC opposed this transaction from the outset, filing a Petition to Deny at the Federal
Communications Commission, with the National Institute for Latino Policy, in May 2011.
NHMC is pleased that, for the time being, the prospect of lower prices, increased consumer
choice, and competition in the wireless industry have been preserved, along with countless
American jobs.
