Media Challenges Ahead: Consolidation, Deregulation, Circulation
Joseph Torres

Two thousand Hispanic journalists and media executives gathered in Fort Worth June 15-18 for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists 23rd annual convention. They came together as circulation at English-language dailies is in decline and the First Amendment is under attack.

In two major sessions, they discuss the nation's changing media landscape.
Sacramento Bee executive editor Rick Rodríguez, elected this spring as president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, was invited to lead a plenary session discussion on the impact of newsroom diversity in an industry facing new economic pressures.

Another session dealt with the media reform movement, answering why journalists of color should care about media consolidation and deregulation.

At 4.3 percent, employment of Hispanics in newsrooms of the nation's English-language dailies and 6.0 percent at local TV news stations, is failing to keep pace with their growth in the U.S. population, while news coverage continues to marginalize the Hispanic community.

There was much to discuss.

Let’s start with the impact of media consolidation. People of color have historically been excluded from becoming owners of broadcast properties. The majority of U.S. residents still receive their news from television. Yet we do not own the stations that decide the informational needs of our communities.

It took until 1945 for the first Hispanic, and 1949 for the first African American, to own a radio station. It took until 1955 for the first Hispanic to own a TV station and 1973 for the first African American to do so.

Beginning in the 1970s, federal efforts led to slight increases in ownership by people of color, but those gains were wiped away by deregulation and anti-affirmative action court rulings in the 1980s and 1990s.

Today, fewer than four percent of all broadcast properties are owned by people of color, and even that feeble figure is declining. Yet neither the Federal Communications Commission nor Congress has done much to reverse the decline.

Keep in mind that nearly a third of the U.S. population is non-white. That figure is projected to reach 50 percent by 2050, with Hispanic population increasing from 14 percent to 25 percent. That’s right, 25 percent — one in four.

The public owns the airwaves. Broadcasters are required to serve its interest in exchange for their licenses. To the detriment of communities of color, that's not happening.

Now it’s becoming too expensive for non-white investors to compete for broadcast properties with the large conglomerates.

Television stations will soon be making the conversion from analog to digital broadcasting, providing every station with six additional channels. The stations are fighting for regulations that require cable systems to carry all their channels. Yet, there are no public interest requirements for digital broadcasters.

Nationwide, municipalities are building wireless broadband networks and offering residents less expensive services. Cable and phone companies are lobbying lawmakers to restrict the building of these networks.

Many believe that following the digital conversion Congress will auction the valuable analog spectrum to cell phone companies.

Public interest advocates opposed an auction. They have called for setting aside portions of the spectrum for unlicensed users, saying it would result in faster and less expensive broadband services.

Hispanic journalists and organizations need to involve themselves in these policy issues.

Shouldn't the additional digital stations provide programming that reflects our communities? Shouldn't more people of color hold broadcast licenses? Shouldn't community wireless networks provide more people of color affordable broadband services?

These are some of the questions that are being asked. It’s a discussion we as Hispanic journalist need to have. Otherwise, history will repeat itself.

(Joseph Torres is deputy director of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists in Washington, D.C. The views expressed here are his own. Torres may be reached by e-mail at jtorres@nahj.com.)

© 2005, Hispanic Link News Service
06/19/05
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