A report released Wednesday by Media Matters for America (MMFA) found that Latino voices are underrepresented in Sunday news talk shows.
Despite making up 17 percent of the U.S. population, Latinos made up only seven percent of guests on English-language Sunday shows, the study found. The report also revealed the limited range of topics Latino guests are invited to discuss on the shows, with 46 percent speaking about immigration issues.
“It is unacceptable for Sunday shows to continue excluding Latino experts from discussing all of the most important issues shaping our country,” stated Alex Nogales, president and CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC). “Media has a responsibility to serve and reflect our nation’s diversity, and it is long past time to get it right.”
Nogales continued, “I applaud Media Matters for this important study that sheds light on a long-standing problem.”
Media Matters analyzed discussions on seven English-language and two Spanish-language Sunday shows on broadcast and cable networks, including ABC’s This Week, CBS’ Face the Nation, Fox News’ Fox News Sunday, NBC’s Meet the Press, CNN’s State of the Union, MSNBC’s Up with Steve Kornacki and Melissa Harris-Perry, Telemundo’s Enfoque and Univision’s Al Punto. The analysis examined 18 weeks of nine shows, which included the peak of the 2014 midterm election season and its outcome.
News and entertainment media’s underrepresentation and persisting stereotypes of Latinos have fueled prejudices and misconceptions about the Latino community, according to 2012 NHMC-commissioned studies.
Such bias has also resulted in a diminished trust of news outlets among Latino audiences. A 2014 study found that more than 65 percent of Latinos feel that news coverage inaccurately reports on Latino and African-American communities.
In 2014, NHMC launched the Latino Experts Program to increase Latino presence and perspectives in local news coverage. Over a two-year span, NHMC assembled more than 100 Latino policy experts in the 12 largest U.S. cities to train them to speak on television and to connect them with local broadcast stations.
“I look forward to working with the networks covered in this study to elevate Latino expert voices on their Sunday shows,” Nogales added.