The National Hispanic Media Coalition was founded in 1986, by Armando Durón, Esther Renteria, and President & CEO Emeritus Alex Nogales, as a response to the lack of Latino representation in local news markets serving sizeable Latino audiences. Over three decades of advocacy, NHMC has increased the representation of Latinos behind and in front of the camera through media advocacy within the entertainment and news industry and with in-depth legal analysis for public policy reforms that advance affordable, open and secure communications.
NHMC established an effort, with 55 other organizations, to #breakhate and bring civil discourse back to the public square. The group works to hold purveyors of hate speech accountable and pushes media platforms to abandon hate speech as a profit model.
The FCC granted construction permits to NHMC and seven other Los Angeles-based non-profit organizations to build a community radio station to bring viewpoint diversity to 101.5 FM.
NHMC’s 18-month campaign against the crass, misogynistic and anti-LGBTQ program resulted in its removal from the airwaves, a hefty fine, and a behavior compliance plan. Through their action, the FCC enforced indecency rules against a Spanish-language broadcaster.
NHMC forced Nielsen to address inaccuracies in their rating system so the use of the data would not lead to limiting Latino employment opportunities in English-language television or discourage the development of Latino-themed programming.
NHMC’s TV Writers Program has prepared more than 100 graduates for writers’ room positions since 2003. Thirty-five percent of program alumni have earned jobs on TV and online shows featured on ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW, BET, HBO, Disney Jr., Hulu, Amazon, Lifetime and Netflix.
After all 26 network shows debuting in the Fall of 1999 had failed to include a person of color in a primary or secondary role, ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX executives signed the agreement put forward by the National Latino Media Council to diversify their workforce, board, and vendors. FOX flew their senior vice president to NYC to interview actors of every ethnicity for the following year’s shows; ABC and NBC added more people of color to their program line-up; and CBS announced a Latino-themed show. NBC also removed a slanderous remark from “Will and Grace” and TV GUIDE launched a 16-page color insert in Spanish.
NHMC’s work to pressure the Federal Communications Commission to revoke the licenses of dozens of stations shirking their federally mandated obligation to hire people of color prompted the FCC start issuing fines to broadcasters for the first time in 56 years.
NHMC remained vigilant that KCBS-TV in LA honored the agreement, complying with Federal Communications Commission policy, and expanded to KABC-TV in LA, as well as New York stations WABC-TV and WCBS-TV.
