Latinos on Network News: Readers Comment

Last Thursday’s Eagle Rock Patch article about UCLA Professor and Eagle Rock resident Otto Santa Ana’s study on Latinos on mainstream network news has prompted a range of comments from readers. Titled “How Latinos Languish on Network News,” the article is stirring all manner of discussion—some of it hostile—on just about every other Patch site where it has been published.

Below are some of the comments. A few of them have been slightly edited for clarity.

Eagle Rock Patch:

OmarA. G

Not all Latinos, speak Spanish or watch channels like Telemundo and such, so I do agree, I do feel left out of the mainstream, I guess you have to be Latino to understand what he [Professor Santa Ana] is talking about. I feel that as a Group we are marginalized on Networks, I mean besides a very few Lead characters on TV series like Modern Family which btw is a bit over the top with the Sassy Latina and accent thing, come on that get's old real quick.

jayres

This guy's research is outdated and skewed at best, and deliberately and intentionally biased at worst. Most of the examples seem to come from 2004, and he is cherry picking specific stories and totally ignoring others. This last year, we have seen all types of stories regarding Latinos, from the Arizona Immigration Law to the emergence of Latinos as a major political demographic that will shape the future of politics over the upcoming decades. There are also pop culture examples from the Latin Grammy's to Ugly Betty, or even the massively growing and mostly popular trend of food trucks, which has spread well beyond the borders of LA and Cali. Whether its stations specifically for Spanish speaking viewers like Telemundo or ESPN Esporte, or the mass diffusion of Latino culture into the mainstream, food, art, culture, or even the George Lopez Show. A wave of Latino-centric issues/culture/events have begun to sweep the nation, while networks may be behind the curve in its coverage, I suspect it is a trend that will continue to grow of its own volition as different entities attempt to include/cater to/ profit from the growing Latino population in this country. The situation may not be ideal, but I can assure you, it is evolving and will be more inclusive to Latinos and representative of their ever-growing role in all aspects of American Society.

Nimby pimp

Thanks for the piece. It will be fascinating to witness the means by which whites, including liberal media elites, will attempt to maintain power and privilege as demographic changes reshape the country. Remember Orwell's observation: "He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past."

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Monrovia Patch:

Silvia Moniot

Thank you for this story!

dan macias

News programming, like any other commercial programming on television is about ratings. Presentation is geared to the sensational, emotional, and eye pleasing. Why is it that all newscasters are "beautiful people" and especially weather reporters! Even the most mundane stores become dramas, i.e. storm watch! I wonder why people choose to watch news on a particular channel? If they all choose to be truthful and objective why are there so many news casts on multiple channels and even news "shows" back to back on the same channel. News copy is written by writers who follow the lead of the station's programmer. Yes, it is perspective but the perspective of that individual who makes the call as to what is to be aired. I would hope that truth and objectivity should be the standard of news casts and as little as possible of "perspective". Narratives can and should be the province of news shows such as 60 minutes.

R. Ray Morford

Professor....You are wrong!!! Net Work News is becoming obsolete because they report a liberal left ideology in most cases. There is nothing wrong with a Mexican, Black, Asian or other types of heritages. We must keep them. But you are either an American or you're not.

Marg

Thank you, Ray. It seems a certain faction always has to make it about race. It's really getting to be a worn out excuse to whine.

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Lake Elsinore-Wildomar Patch:

Lake Elsinore Resident

Hey guy thanks for the b.s. story. Inclusive is what this nation is about—people being inclusive as Americans, not Latinos, Africans, Asians.

lovemycountry

Not true, in the news are Latino business owners, Latinos in goverment and Latinos making a difference. Then there are Latinos who break the law just like whites, black, Asian, etc. … why keep dividing us, we are one!

Arthur Spooner

The problem is that there will never be equality. The liberals constantly point out the differences between races. Racism will always be for that reason.

Long Time Local

Latinos were just the big focus in the 2012 Presidential Election, Remember? There are newspapers, TV shows, Fox news online even has a Latino news section. Call B.S. also, have watched affirmative action numbers over the years, Latinos have nothing to cry about. "One Nation Under God"

DB

As long as the Mexican Mafia and all the Mexican Gangs are allowed to operate with impunity, there will always be racism, it's in their nature .... Mexican American/Brown Power, etc. = Proud to be Mexican, African American/black power = Proud to be black, Asian American = proud to be Asian. Euro/white American = Racists. It is one of the things that makes me crazy in this day and age, it's not OK to be white anymore ... just listen to the music influence our kids are listening to. Urbanization of America has gone to far ... think of the look white kids get when they wear white pride shirts ... yet it is totally acceptable for a black kid to wear a black pride shirt.

The Teller of Truth

There was this fellow at work that wore a tee shirt that had a picture of Africa on it and the caption under it said: Black by nature—Proud by choice. Nobody said anything. The next day one of the more wise arz guys wore a tee shirt that read: White Pride. He was promptly walked out by the security guards.

DB

Now what's wrong with that picture?

Arthur Spooner

DB because liberals have created a world of double standards. They have different rules than everyone else.

Roberto

Imagine the shock these evolving Latinos will get when they realize all the entitlements, taxes & wealth redistribution is being done on their children’s backs. Just like liberals, they don't care as long as they can say, "I got mine."

Dog

To people like this man enough will never be enough, just a small time race hustler.

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Watsonvile Patch:

Mike Bulluionio

They more than make up for it in the local news with all of crime they commit.

Cathy P.

"Completely ignored ..." and certainly not marginalized. I would disagree and say that it all depends on where you live. I'll bet there's not much about Latinos in states like North Dakota or Wyoming but here on the Central Coast of CA we have lots of news that pertain to Latinos. Professors are required to publish to earn and keep tenure, this article is skewed and purely academic imho ... watch out, here it comes!!!

Mina

We hear and read news every day about Latinos on our local news channels. Granted, the news is about crimes committed by Latinos on a daily basis. As a law-abiding citizen, I am disgusted with the current state of affairs concerning crime in our city. It is evident that crime is an important part of the Latino culture, along with gangs and molestation of minor children. Latinos need to change their image by changing their behavior!!!

Randy C.

Boy, Mina, what an ignorant statement about Latino culture. I always thought that the majority of Latino culture was centered around family, hard work, and religion. Don't let a few bad apples that involve themselves with gangs or other criminal acts skew your outlook on Latinos or any other culture you probably have a twisted view on. I'm Mexican American and can tell you that nobody in my immediate family has ever been in a gang or participated in a criminal act. Maybe you should come out from under your rock and make an effort to meet some of your neighbors and get to know them...you would probably see some common ground and maybe even like some of them. I don't like crime and don't support illegal immigration or spending resources on ESL that could be channeled into mainstream education for those that were born here or immigrated legally.

Adrian

We should all get the Klan down here take care of those Brown Berets. Do you all agree?

bj73

This is America. Why should anyone make such a big fuss about Latinos not being in the news, which they are. Do you see German, Italian, Irish, Heinz 57, etc. etc. etc. being singled out in the news? What about the Latino film and music awards shows that are televised? Why do we have to keep on dividing the ethnic backgrounds of the American people? The American people are of diverse ethnic backgrounds and that was what made America a great place. I am a Heinz 57 American and should be called that according to so-called "political correctness," which is a crock! This is what keeps racism alive and growing. People like this person who wrote the above keep racism alive and growing. For one thing, in California the Latino population is very, very close to being the majority and definitely not the minority. Articles like this keep us divided. If I went to live in another country should I be called an American French, American Irish, American German, American Mexican and so forth? The whole "correctness" thing is totally ridiculous and "keeps everyone divided!!!" Is this the billionaire groups’ intentions?

Lucas

The media needs Latinos. After all, if it weren't for the Latinos there would be very little crime to report, the quality of education and health care would improve and life in general would be better. People who are old enough remember how much better the standard of living was before the mass migration of illegal aliens and their anchor babies flooded the country. The media had to rely on reporting good things in the news.

Sergio

Latinos most of them isolate them selves from American culture thus are not represented by it. Latinos in a large part listen to watch read and communicate in spanish and thus create a cultural linguistic barrier. For those of us that are part of American culture I do not feel ignored as i do not see my self as a latino which is a divisive term but as an American with light brown skin black hair who does not need or want any special media attention. I am quite content watching news in which the needs of the general population are catered to, as opposed to any topics of a foreign culture.