Latinos In The Media Essay

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Explainer: How the United States represents Hispanics in the media October 27, 2014 Anthony Giron discusses the racial stereotypes that the American media portrays when reporting on Hispanics/Latinos. Introduction- Hispanics are the fastest-growing ethnic minority group in the United States. As of 2012, Hispanics numbered at around 53 million people, which constitutes as 17% of the United States population. They make the second largest minority group in the nation behind African-Americans. Racial stereotypes come hand in hand with Hispanics; they are manifested in the United States mass media, theatre, literature and any other forms of expression. The tend to occupy peripheral roles within the media, and when they are allowed to be central …show more content…

This has resulted in Latinos being painted with a certain public image, or rather a stereotype in which Hispanics are being viewed as prominent figures within gang related activity. News, Media and Crime- In 2003, Serafín Méndez-Méndez from The National Association of Hispanic Journalist reported us of his findings, they were as followed: • Out of all news stories that appear on network broadcasts, Latino-related stories make up less than 1%, which is staggering knowing that Latinos make up more than 17% of the U.S population. • Illegal immigration, poverty and welfare, terrorism and Crime made up for 66% of all network stories relating Latinos in 2001 • When Jose Padilla are suspected terrorist was arrested, for supposedly planning on detonating a “dirty bomb”, more than 21 networks aired the story which was about 18% of all stories aired on Latinos. It became the main coverage story of Latinos in …show more content…

Media bias goes well beyond stereotypes; there is a lack of Latino presence in the mainstream media in the U.S. NHMC strongly believe that the only way that Hispanics can be portrayed unbiasedly is if they find jobs in all sections of the media industry, this been said NHMC also believe that the primary positions should be programming and policy making. National study- A national study conducted by the NHMC and the New York times showed that a number of Americans have a poor image and misunderstanding of Hispanics due to the way they appear on the news and mainstream media. At least a third of non-Hispanic Americans believe that half of the Hispanics population in the U.S are illegal immigrants with a large family, merely because of what they see and read about them on the news. The study also showed that many Americans believe the media only reports on Latinos when stereotypical cases arise, such as crime, gangs and labourers.

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