- This Week: Deadline to Apply to NHMC TV Writers Program
- Buy Tickets Now to 2014 NHMC Local Impact Awards Luncheon
- NHMC Media and Telecommunications Policy Shop Update
- Latino Premiere Club Lauds New CBS Show ‘Reckless’
- NHMC Launches New Initiative to Increase Latino Visibility in News
- Protecting Equality on the Internet
- Advocating for Fair Media Ownership Rules
- Ensuring Diversity in Tech
In a column on Univision.com, NHMC’s president and CEO Alex Nogales talks about the anti-immigrant protests in Murrieta, California and how the underrepresentation and misrepresentation of Latinos in media has fueled prejudice and misconceptions about Latinos and immigrants, saying this is “one of the biggest barriers to achieving equality in this country.” Read the piece in English on our blog or click here for the original version in Spanish.News Briefs: Advocating for Latinos in Media
NHMC advocated for closing the digital divide and making broadband access universal in a piece on the New York Times‘ website. Read it here.
VIDEO: NHMC’s executive vice president and general counsel Jessica González was featured in a New York Times op-doc on Net Neutrality. Watch it here.
The New York Times may not have been among the outlets that dropped the i-Word in 2013, but the Drop the i-Word campaign (of which NHMC was part) and the broader immigration rights movement clearly had an effect: the outlet’s use of “illegal immigrant dropped in 2013. Read more here.
NHMC Television Writers Program
The deadline to apply for the NHMC TV Writers Program is July 31, 2014. For more information on how to apply, visit www.nhmc.org/writersprogram.
Sarah Hernandez(2011) is a writers’ assistant on ABC Family teen drama Pretty Little Liars. You can read her Q&A by clicking here.
Judalina Neira (2011) is a staff writer on what she calls a “salacio
us soap,” Hit the Floor on VH1. To know more about Judalina, read her Q&A by clicking here.
Increasing Latino Visibility in News
NHMC launched the Latino Experts Program, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and created to increase the visibility of Latino experts in local news coverage. Over a two-year span, NHMC trained more than 100 Latino leaders, representing various fields of expertise and based in 12 television markets, to speak on television. “Latinos are an integral part of the American social fabric, but you wouldn’t know that from watching the news,” said Alex Nogales, president and CEO of NHMC, a multiple Emmy Award-winning producer who led the trainings. “It’s time for the media to reflect reality. There are thousands upon thousands of Latino experts in their field, working to make this country better for all Americans. Latino views and faces are essential for balanced and responsible coverage, and yet they are still largely excluded. We now have the opportunity to transform this by elevating Latino perspectives on the issues shaping our country.” Read more here.
NHMC Media/Telecommunications Policy Shop Update
It has been a busy summer for NHMC in Washington, DC!
Network Neutrality and the Open Internet
July 18 was the FCC’s deadline for initial comments on its proposed Open Internet rules. These rules will govern how Internet Service Providers, like cable companies, are able to treat web traffic. The FCC’s current proposal will, among other things, allow ISPs to cut deals with Internet companies to prioritize their traffic over everybody else’s and would example mobile broadband providers from most of the rules.Network Neutrality and the Open Internet 
NHMC, representing the Voices for Internet Freedom coalition, joined more than a million other people and filed comments with the FCC on behalf of more than 50 civil rights, human rights, community-based and media organizations urging the FCC to treat ISPs as common carriers that do nothing more than carry traffic from place to place. The Voices coalition contends that, according to a recent D.C. Circuit Court decision, this course of action is the only way that the FCC can impose in strong Net Neutrality rules which protect the digital rights of communities of color and prevent blocking and discrimination online. Along the way, NHMC has also pushed back on those who oppose a truly Open Internet, by pushing back against misinformation and deception in the public debate. Read our open letter urging the Latino community to support real Net Neutrality here. To share with the FCC why an Open Internet devoid of discrimination is important to you, click here.
Media Ownership For the past few weeks, NHMC has also been doing its part in DC to stress the importance of promoting Latino ownership of radio and television outlets across the country. According to data released by the FCC at the end of June, Latinos only own about 3 percent of full power television stations and FM radio stations across the country. This disparity makes it incredibly hard for Latinos to tell our stories, push back against negative narratives and hate speech about our community, and raise our voices in important political debates.
NHMC’s own Jessica González shared these views at a hearing on Capitol Hill entitled “Media Ownership in the 21st Century,” before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Communications & Technology. During the hearing, Jessica highlightedfor lawmakers the negative effects that media consolidation and declining diversity over the past two decades has had on Latinos, other people of color and women. She also stressed the importance and uniqueness of broadcasting and explain why media ownership limits remain relevant today. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle agreed that her testimony about this important issue was powerful.
Tech Industry Diversity Over the past few months, thanks to the work of allies like ColorOfChange, a growing number of Internet and technology companies like Yahoo,Google, Facebook and Twitter, have shared information about the demographics of their employees. Unfortunately, the numbers have not been good for Latinos. Only 3 percent of employees at Google or Twitter are Latino. At Yahoo and Facebook the number of Latinos sits at 4 percent apiece.
NHMC views the release of data as a positive step in the ongoing dialogue about inclusion of people of color in this increasingly important sector of our economy. Said NHMC’s JessicaGonzález, “Let’s have an honest conversation about diversity in this sector, and work together to improve the situation.” That is what NHMC intends to do – remain engaged with these companies and push for positive change.
2014 NHMC Local Impact Awards Luncheon Celebrate local talent by buying your tickets today! The 12th Annual NHMC Local Impact Awards Luncheon will be held on September 11, 2014 at the Hilton Universal City. The NHMC Local Impact Awards Luncheon recognizes local talent and community leaders in the second largest designated market area (DMA) in the country, Los Angeles. Past award recipients include: Art Laboe, Eddie “Piolin” Sotelo, Ruben Lenguas, Jaime Jarrin, Sam Rubin, Ana Garcia, Big Boy, Laura Diaz and Vikki Vargas.
2014 Luncheon Sponsor
Latino Premiere Club Screens New Adam Rodriguez Legal Drama Last month the Latino Premiere Club, a new partnership between NHMC and the Latin Heat Media Institute, held a screening at CBS Studios of the network’s upcoming legal drama “Reckless,” which features a Latino actor, Adam Rodriguez (“CSI: Miami”), in a prominent role. Latino Premiere Club members lauded the show’s fair and multi-dimensional portrayal and inclusion of a Latino character in a prominent role. The audience of more than two dozen members had an opportunity to converse with Rodriguez and the show’s executive producer, Kim Moses (“Ghost Whisperer”), in a Q&A session following the screening. For more information, visit www.latinopremiereclub.com.
The screening was the first ever for the Latino Premiere Club, a membership organization whose goal is to ensure Latinos are fairly and accurately included in film and television, by providing a forum directly connecting Latino opinions to upcoming projects that tell Latino stories and/or employ Latinos in front and behind the camera.
