Tag: ethnic media

Group Calls On Ethnic Media Nationwide to Run Editorial Calling for "Urgent Immigration Reform"

By Diego Graglia, FI2W web editor

Photo: SubZeroConsciousness/Flickr

Pro-immigration activists want the Obama Administration to approach immigration reform with a much stronger sense of urgency than it has shown so far, as Feet in 2 Worlds reported yesterday. As Thursday’s much-awaited –and twice-cancelled— White House meeting with lawmakers on the issue approaches, some activists are trying to ramp up the pressure.

News and advocacy organization New America Media is asking ethnic media nationwide to simultaneously publish the same editorial “calling for urgent immigration reform.”

The editorial asks the White House and Congress to “move quickly” to pass reform that will “remove the term ‘illegal or undocumented immigrants’ from the dialogue in this country,” according to a copy provided by NAM. It calls the current immigration system “inefficient, inhumane and economically debilitating” and “broken” for both undocumented and specialized workers, as well as for families trying to reunite.

The text also urges ethnic media readers and viewers to contact their representatives in Congress “and let them know that immigration reform must be a national priority.” [ You can read the full text below. ]

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Stories

Advocating for Immigrants: Filmmakers Tell the Story of the Hispanic Press in America

By John Rudolph, FI2W Executive Producer

For many Americans, May 1, 2006 was when they first began to comprehend the power of the nation’s Spanish-language media. Hispanic radio and TV played a key role on that day, urging Latino immigrants to take time off from work to demonstrate for immigration reform. Millions participated in the protests in cities across the country.

But while Hispanic media was credited for its role in bringing out the masses on the “day without immigrants,” most people remain unaware of the long history of the Spanish-language press in America, and its tradition of advocating for Latino interests.

The first U.S.-based newspaper for Spanish-speaking readers – El Misisipi – made its debut in New Orleans in 1808, nearly two centuries before the historic marches of 2006.

La Cronica, published in Laredo, Texas, served Mexican exiles in the early 20th Century.

La Cronica, published in Laredo, Texas, served Mexican exiles in the early 20th Century.

By the mid-19th Century Spanish-language newspapers were editorializing and covering news in New York, California, Texas, New Mexico and Pennsylvania. Among the causes they supported were independence for Mexico and Cuba, which at the time were Spanish colonies.

The nation’s oldest continuously-published Latino newspaper, – La Prensa – was founded in New York in 1913, and exists today as the daily El Diario/La Prensa.

“We’ve been around for years. We’re not a new media,” said Juan Gonzáles, who chairs the Journalism Department at the City College of San Francisco.

Gonzáles is producing a film that tells the story of America’s Spanish-language media, Voices for Justice: The Enduring Legacy of the Latino Press in the U.S. Along with fellow filmmaker, Félix F. Gutiérrez, a professor of Journalism at the University of Southern California, Gonzáles recently showed a preview of the film to an audience of ethnic media journalists in Atlanta.

Gonzáles told Feet in Two Worlds that the film intends to dispel myths about Latinos both among Hispanics and in the wider society. ” Through the pages of our newspapers we really get an impression of what Latinos are like,” he said. “Mainstream media always shows negative stories (about Latinos) — about gang activity and crime.” Gonzáles noted that many Latinos don’t know the history of the Spanish-language press. “We’re feeling a big gap of knowledge,” — he said — “the film is going to fill a void in telling the story of a people.”voices_logo

The film project is also a way for Gonzáles and Gutiérrez to prod the Hispanic press to be more aggressive in the way it reports the news.

Today there are hundreds of Hispanic newspapers and magazine across the country. Spanish-language radio is a huge business, and Hispanic TV networks Telemundo and Univision have become as mainstream as their English-language counterparts.

Despite the numbers, Gonzáles, who founded El Tecolote, a bilingual community newspaper in San Francisco, laments that there’s “a lot of fluff” in journalism aimed at Latino audiences. “It does a disservice to the community,” he said.

“When it comes to hard stories, it’s something I continue to push for,” he said. “However much you don’t want to do it, you have to do it. Your simple existence is not enough. You need to help the community change conditions through your solid reporting.”

Despite News Industry Crisis, Ethnic Media Continues Growth: Audience at 57 Million, Poll Says

By Diego Graglia, FI2W web editor

Photo: Leo Kan/Flickr. (Click to visit)

Photo: Leo Kan/Flickr

In the relentlessly grim landscape of today’s news industry, ethnic media — while affected by lower revenues and cutbacks– seems to be the brightest spot. According to a new poll released by New America Media, in the last four years ethnic media “have picked up 8 million new readers, viewers and listeners, and now regularly reach 57 million people in the U.S.”

82 percent of African-American, Hispanic and Asian-American adults are regularly reached by ethnic media, said NAM executive director Sandy Close in a press release.

The survey, conducted by Bendixen & Associates, a Miami-based polling firm specializing in Hispanic audiences, polled 1,329 African-American, Hispanic and Asian-American respondents. NAM released the results during its National Ethnic Media Expo in Atlanta last week.

“The poll results demonstrate significant penetration for the ethnic media,” Close said.

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Census Representatives Ask New York Ethnic Media for Help With Population Count

From left: NYC immigrant affairs commissioner Guillermo Linares, NYC Census 2010 director Stacey Cumberbatch, and NY Community Media Alliance director Juana Ponce de Leon - Photo: Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska.

From left: NYC immigrant affairs commissioner Guillermo Linares, NYC Census 2010 director Stacey Cumberbatch, and NY Community Media Alliance director Juana Ponce de Leon. (Photo: Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska.)

Census representatives made a plea to New York ethnic journalists to help them spread the message that every New Yorker will benefit from the 2010 Census, even undocumented immigrants. City officials and immigrant organizations supported the initiative, during a press briefing held Tuesday at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.

“Census data determine the number of delegates the city gets in Congress and the State Legislature, as well as the size of each of our 51 City Council districts,” said Stacey Cumberbatch, New York City director for Census 2010. “But they also determine how much federal funding New York City gets each year. This money funds things like health care, housing, education or senior services.”

Cumberbatch told the few dozen journalists at the briefing that in 2007 New York City got $22 billion (or $2,700 per person) to fund its various programs. That amount was calculated based on Census data using a simple equation: the more people counted, the more funding appropriated.

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Pride at Sonia Sotomayor's Nomination Reflected in Spanish-Language Media

President Obama, Judge Sotomayor and Vice President Joe Biden. (Photo: The White House)

President Obama, Judge Sotomayor and Vice President Joe Biden. (Photo: The White House)

“I adore her,” said Celina Sotomayor. “I can’t feel my body, that’s how proud I am of her.”

Sotomayor’s daughter Sonia became President Barack Obama’s first nominee to the Supreme Court on Tuesday and could be the first Hispanic ever to serve on the nation’s highest tribunal.

After the announcement, Spanish-language media immediately reflected gleeful reactions from many Hispanics.

One of them was the nominee’s mother –born in Lajas, Puerto Rico, in 1927–, who was interviewed on video by an El Diario/La Prensa reporter.

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Mass. Governor Meets Ethnic Media Over In-State Tuition, Driver's Licenses, Immigration Reform

Gov. Deval Patrick and Frank Herron, director of the Center on Media and Society at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. (Photo: E. de Oliveira)

Gov. Deval Patrick and Frank Herron, director of the Center on Media and Society at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. (Photo: E. A. de Oliveira)

By Eduardo A. de Oliveira, EthnicNEWz.org and FI2W reporter

Proclaiming that, “we need immigration laws that are consistent with our values,” Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick held a wide-ranging press conference with ethnic media journalists at the State House in Boston.  At the meeting, last Friday, the governor defended the creation of partnerships with immigrant communities, answered questions on topics such as bilingual education and driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants, and commented on race relations under President Barack Obama.

The audience of about fifty journalists –more than 35 from immigrant communities– came from African-American, Brazilian, Chinese, Haitian, Japanese, Korean, Latino, Polish, Portuguese and other print, broadcast and Web media.

The governor made brief remarks at the opening of the press conference, saying democracy thrives when it maintains an unfiltered press. He then opened the floor to the journalists’ questions on topics from “anywhere in your agenda you want,” he said.

At least one topic formed a common thread for many of the journalists: access to driver’s licenses for undocumented workers, many of whom contribute to the state economy and pay taxes.

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AudioStories

A New Generation of Polish-Americans: Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska on NPR’s Latino USA

Greenpoint, Brooklyns Polish neighborhood. (Photos: E. Kern-Jedrychowska)

Greenpoint, Brooklyn’s Polish neighborhood. (Photos: E. Kern-Jedrychowska)

A New Generation of Polish-Americans, a story by Feet in 2 Worlds and Polish Daily News reporter Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska, is the main feature on this week’s NPR show Latino USA (find your NPR station here).

From the Latino USA website:

The history of Poland hasn’t always been pretty.

While historians would say the country was born in 966 when its ruler became Christianized, it’s territorial boundaries haven’t been well-defined throughout the ages. In fact, from 1795 to 1918, Poland didn’t exist as a nation and the territory was divided among the kingdoms of Prussia, Austria, and Russia.

Constantly invaded, partitioned, borders redrawn, and territory occupied, the Poles themselves led a workers’ revolution in the 1980s that threw off the shackles of Soviet-led communism and inspired the world with the word: “Solidarity.”

Throughout most of the 20th Century, however, many Poles yearned for the freedom and security of America. But for the younger generation who grew up after the fall of Communism, those yearnings of their parents and grandparents just aren’t resonating.

You can listen to the story below:

[audio:http://latinousa.kut.org/wp-content/lusaaudio/838_seg01.mp3]

Or you can listen to the story while watching a photo slideshow at the Latino USA website.

You can read more of Ewa’s Feet In 2 Worlds pieces on Polish-Americans here.

GOP Candidate for NJ Governor Against Driver's Licenses, In-State Tuition for the Undocumented

By Diego Graglia, FI2W web editor

NJ gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie at a Parsippany town hall this weekend. (Photo: Christie campaign)

NJ gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie at a Parsippany town hall this weekend. (Photo: Christie campaign)

The leading contender for the Republican nomination in the New Jersey gubernatorial campaign is opposing an immigration panel’s recommendations that the state extend licenses to drivers regardless of their immigration status and allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates.

Former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, however, was careful in his statements last weekend at a Parsippany town hall not to dish out the hardline rhetoric that has come to be expected from Republican candidates on the issue of immigration. Such rhetoric did not work well for them in last year’s elections, when most hardline candidates for Congress lost their races.

Christie said he was opposed to the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel on Immigration Policy, appointed by Gov. Jon Corzine in 2007, and whose report sparked a heated debate a couple of weeks ago. The Parsippany audience applauded his remarks warmly, New York newspaper El Diario/La Prensa reported Tuesday.

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U.S. Census Reaches Out to Ethnic Media To Avoid Undercounting Of Minorities

Census regional director Kathleen Ludgate at a talk with New England ethnic reporters.

Census regional director Kathleen Ludgate at a talk with New England ethnic reporters.

The 2010 U.S. Census gets underway one year from now. Amid concerns over an undercount of immigrants and ethnic minorities, census officials recently met with ethnic media journalists from New England to address fears and suspicions that may discourage people from participating in the census survey.

According to the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights there are three main reasons why the 2010 census will be especially challenging:

  • The rise of anti-immigrant rhetoric, and heightened immigrant enforcement activities, have created real fear and distrust of the government;
  • The foreclosure crisis and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have displaced millions of people, making it hard to do an accurate count; and
  • As the first census after 9/11, the Census Bureau will have to deal with Americans’ privacy concerns about how their information is used.

The journalists attending the meeting in Boston represented TV, radio, Internet and newspaper media for African American, Brazilian, Cape Verdean, Chinese, Polish and Spanish communities. Census regional director Kathleen Ludgate told them that the census needs to create media buzz where it matters, in the communities.

“The idea here is to have ethnic journalists tell us the talking points that interest their own readers,” she said.

Addressing the fear that some undocumented residents have about answering the census, Ludgate said “whether it’s the Patriot Act or anything else that’s happened over this decade, the Census Bureau has a good track record of maintaining confidentiality.”

Some immigrants workers have told ethnic newspapers and radio programs that they fear personal information could be used against them if it is revealed to local authorities — even if the information turns out to be inaccurate.

“We don’t share information with the city or anyone else. The only purpose for the data we collect is for the census,” assured Ludgate, whose Region I office oversees all six states of New England, upstate New York, and Puerto Rico.

Census media specialist Cesar Monzon explained, all employees of the census sign an oath of confidentiality, which is renewed annually. Anyone who reveals specific information about any household would be subject to up to five years in prison, plus a $250,000 fine.

In addition, federal laws require that specific data about residents be concealed for 72 years before it can be made accessible to the general public. (more…)

Obama Says He Is "Very Committed" To Immigration Reform, Will Start Working On It Soon

Obama on the line. (Photo: White House)

Obama on the line. (Photo: White House)

Between signing the stimulus bill into law and traveling to Canada, President Barack Obama found time Wednesday to fulfill a campaign promise: he went back on the air with the nation’s most popular Spanish-language radio host, Los Angeles-based Eddie “Piolín” Sotelo.

In addition to the usual jokes and amiable bantering, the phone interview produced a small bit of news that only The Associated Press’ Spanish-language service seems to have caught: Obama told Sotelo he would call on immigration leaders in the next few months to begin preparing “a draft” proposal for comprehensive immigration reform.

Update: NPR show Tell Me More posted audio of the original interview here. You can listen to it by pressing Play.

[audio:http://pd.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/tmm/2009/02/20090219_tmm_obamablog.mp3]

Obama said it is necessary to start working on reform now, because getting it passed will take time. But he said he was “very committed” to making it a reality.

“Necesitamos comenzar a trabajar en ello ahora. Va a tomar tiempo avanzar eso (la propuesta), pero estoy muy comprometido de que eso se concrete”.

From ImpreMedia’s news website

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