The Latino Reporter

Transcription

The Latino Reporter
The Latino Reporter
www.latinoreporterdigital.org
THE OFFICIAL CONVENTION NEWSPAPER OF NAHJ
Inside
Today
| THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2007
2007 Convention | San Jose
HOME RUN CHASE
GET HYPHY
Reaction is mixed about
Bonds’ drive | PAGES 7-9
Inside: Bay Area youth culture finds own hip-hop style | PAGE 6
Video report: Ghost-riding the whip | www.nahj.org
Immigration reform fails
DESPITE MAJOR SETBACK, PROPONENTS HOPEFUL FOR OVERHAUL
Despite cuts,
Spanish
language
news thrives
By Cristian Hernandez
By Ana Ley
The Latino Reporter
The Latino Reporter
A compromise designed to reform the
nation’s immigration system failed to get a
final vote in the Senate last week after
opponents from both parties refused to
stop debating the measure.
The defeat is viewed as a major setback for President Bush and congressional supporters who said the bill would have
given 12 million undocumented immigrants a path to U.S. citizenship.
For the bill to pass, senators had to
vote to end debate and then take a second
vote to approve the measure. The first
vote failed and Senate Majority Leader
Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) then took the bill
off the Senate floor.
Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.) remained hopeful they would be
able to reintroduce a measure for consideration in a few weeks.
“I will bring the immigration bill back
to the Senate as soon as enough
Republicans are ready to join us in moving forward to fix our broken immigration
system,” Reid said.
Please see IMMIGRATION, Page 4
TODAY’S
WEATHER:
SUNNY, HIGH
87, LOW 60
LATINO REPORTER/CONOR SANCHEZ
Leonardo Serrano, left, and Siprano Perez, harvest organic greens at the Triple M Ranch in
Watsonville on Wednesday.
Online | www.nahj.org
Today’s Convention
Highlights
What we thought
of the governor
DIGITAL REVOLUTION
What does convergence mean
for news gatherers? |
8:30-10:15 a.m., Marriot Ballroom
Salons III-iV
Read reaction to Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger’s address at the convention’s opening plenary Wednesday evening,
where he promoted his plan for all
Californians to have health insurance, and
answered questions regarding undocumented immigrants. | www.nahj.org
Demand and advertising
dollars for Spanish-language
news are growing, but like
the rest of the industry, ethnic news outlets are facing
layoffs, bureau closures and
shrinking coverage.
It’s a trend that puzzles
industry experts. Some
blame ownership changes,
short-term financial goals
and the perception that
Spanish speakers are not
strong consumers. But
what’s clear to most is that
the future of Spanish-language news outlets is bright.
“They are going to be
gold mines to save the day at
big companies,” said Gilbert
Bailon, the publisher and
editor of Al Día newspaper
in Dallas. He added that they
provide “critical community
service to people who crave
credible, relevant information in their native language.”
While many mainstream
news outlets report losses in
advertising sales, Spanishlanguage media appears to
be attracting more advertising dollars. Total spending
for Spanish-language media
reached $5.59 billion last
year, an increase of 14.4 percent over 2005, according to
Please see SPANISH, Page 3
LIFE COACHING
LATINO REPORTER/DANNY RODRIGUEZ
Get your career unstuck and
find balance in your life.
Inside
| noon-2p.m., Expo Hall Lounge
Recruiting journalists in a downsizing environment | Page 3
˜
FLIP OVER TO READ NEWS EN ESPANOL
THE LATINO REPORTER • www.latinoreporterdigital.org
PROFESSIONAL STAFF
What is your worst mistake
that required a correction?
Edwin Garcia,
San Jose Mercury News
George Ramos,
Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo
“This woman, who was accused
of committing fraud with one of
the welfare programs, denied
that she did it. I wrote that she
admitted she may have done it.”
ASSIGNING EDITORS
Andrea Garcia, Daily Republic
Julie Patel, San Jose Mercury News
Ricardo Sanchez, Contra Costa Times
Nicole Vargas, San Diego Union-Tribune
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Ernie Garcia
The Journalist News,
Yonkers, N. Y.
“We had an article on digital
radio about a technology called
frequency shift keying and that
word “shift” didn’t have the F.”
“I misspelled my own last
name.”
Daniel Morales
Velazquez Press
El Monte, Calif.
“There was an ad that was suppose to say colorful cojines, and
somebody slipped and it said
cojones.”
Professor Rafael Matos,
University of Sacred Heart,
San Juan, Puerto Rico
“I reported that we were headed for a large fire, and when we
got there it was a very small
shed fire. We had to tell people
we were wrong.”
Andy Ramirez
KNXV TV, Phoenix
Convention
THE RESULTS ARE IN
NAHJ CONVENTION • SAN JOSE 2007
EDITOR
MANAGING EDITOR
Lucia Sanchez
Radio World Newspaper
Falls Church, Va.
2
The Latino Reporter
Questionoftheday
77% 23%
100
Should NAHJ
hold its annual
conference in
Las Vegas?
0
YES
NO
Question
LATINO REPORTER/DENNY ROBLES
Marcio José Sánchez,
Associated Press
PHOTO MENTORS
LATINO REPORTER/JOEY ANCHONDO
Volunteer Josie Lepe, a San Jose Mercury News photographer, sets up a photo
exhibit Tuesday on immigration rallies for the NAHJ convention.
Volunteers step up
to staff convention
By Tessa Benavides
The Latino Reporter
Rich Ramirez, NAHJ’s local
logistics coordinator and overseer
of the volunteers for this year’s
convention, recently realized he
had run into a small glitch.
Fewer than 20 volunteers had
signed up to help with NAHJ preparations in San Jose – far short of the
number he needed. As Ramirez put
it, he “totally panicked.”
“We called community groups, college journalism educators, journalism clubs in the Bay Area and Latino
groups in the community,” said
Ramirez, who needed volunteers to
stuff more than 1,000 bags for conventioneers, among other tasks.
The response from the community left him speechless. It wasn’t
long before the number of volunteers from the Bay Area had more
than doubled and the Guadalupe
conference room inside the
Marriott San Jose started to fill.
“Before we knew it, we had more
than 50 volunteers,” Ramirez said.
“Some of them didn’t even know
anything about NAHJ before we put
this word out. So I am just overwhelmed by their commitment.”
Sylvia Andrade was one of the
first to respond. The youth advisor
for the League of United Latin
American
Citizens
(LULAC)
showed up with a group of parents
on Sunday in response to
Ramirez’s call.
“We got involved because we do
work in the community and they
needed volunteers,” Andrade said.
“When you volunteer, you don’t
mind how much work there is. If the
work needs to be done, we do it.”
Andrade’s 75-year-old mother,
Ana Maria Argandar, also volunteered.
“She was working as hard as the
20-year-olds and college students.
She just wanted to help,” Ramirez
said of Argandar.
Two journalism students from
San Francisco State University
also joined in. Jody Amable and
Jacqueline Hernandez were sent emails by their professors regarding
Ramirez’s request for help. They
came not only to help but to gain
experience.
“I knew it would be an opportunity to meet people. That is something I have to start doing because
I am almost out of school, so I need
to start making connections,”
Amable said.
Hernandez said curiosity was
her reason for volunteering.
“I have never been involved in anything like this, so I was curious to see
what it was all about,” she said.
Hernandez
Like
Andrade,
brought along a family member to
help – her sister, Leticia Gomez, of
Mexico. Together, they helped stuff
name tags into envelopes.
“I came just to find out what it
was, and I thought ‘Why not?’ We
can meet other people,” Gomez
said. “Everybody is nice and I am
having a little bit of fun.”
NAHJ volunteers, whose main
office is on the third floor of the
Marriott, are committed to the convention’s success. They will be onhand during the week to ensure
programs run smoothly and will
provide assistance during workshops.
A volunteer’s monetary value per
hour is $18.77 nationally based on a
report by Independent Sector, a leadership forum for charities, foundations and corporate giving programs.
In Ramirez’s eyes, the volunteers
who helped to put the convention
together are priceless.
“NAHJ staff is great, but there is
just not enough of them to do all the
work, especially the behind-thescenes work,” Ramirez said. “These
people are just working so hard.”
Hector Amezcua, Sacramento Bee
A.E. “Fred” Araiza, Arizona Daily Star
Ray Chavez, Oakland Tribune
Sara Fajardo, Orlando Sentinel
COPY EDITORS
Michael Martinez,
San Jose Mercury News
José Romero, Seattle Times
DESIGN DIRECTOR
Daymond Gascon,
San Jose Mercury News
DESIGNER
Sylvia Ulloa,
San Jose Mercury News
CONVERGENCE MANAGER
Blanca Torres, Contra Costa Times
ADVISERS
Joe Rodriguez, San Jose Mercury News
Ricardo Sandoval, Sacramento Bee
STUDENT STAFF
Tessa Benavides, Our Lady of The Lake
University
Maira Garcia, Texas State University-San
Marcos
Victoria Hayslett, New Mexico State
University
Arelis Hernandez, University of MarylandCollege Park
Cristian Hernandez, Boston University
Ana Ley University of Texas-Pan
American
Jonnelle Marte, Florida International
University
Marcy Miranda, Northwestern University
Denny Robles, University of Idaho
Daniel Rodriguez, Texas State UniversitySan Marcos
Conor Sanchez, Occidental College
Mark Suarez, University of Houston
Celina Rosita Tousignant, Syracuse
University
PUBLISHED BY
The San Jose Mercury News
HOW TO REACH US
San Jose State University
Dwight Bentel Hall
One Washington Square
San Jose, CA 95192
408-924-3280
[email protected]
Corrections
A photo essay on the San Jose Flea
Market in Wednesday’s paper misidentified the author of its accompanying story.
Jonnelle Marte wrote the article.
Tessa Benavides’ biography was omitted
from The Latino Reporter staff story on
Page 3. Her bio follows: A twist of fate
led to Tessa Benavides’ interest in journalism. Benavides, a sophomore at Our Lady
of the Lake University in San Antonio,
Texas, wanted to drop out of her choir
class in junior high. The only other elective available was the school newspaper.
She figured she could “sit around and staple papers or something,” and adds, “Boy,
was I wrong.”
FEW NEWSPAPERS
HAVE JOB OPENING
“It’s still important that organizations have a pipeline for ideal
candidates. News organizations
can’t make bad hires.”
By Marcy Miranda
The Latino Reporter
Carla Kimbrough-Robinson has
worked in the newspaper industry for
20 years, most recently as a recruiter
for the Denver Post.
Throughout her career, she has seen
the rise of the internet, the evolution of
technology in journalism and the latest
troubles haunting the industry.
But this week, Kimbrough-Robinson
has personally felt the effects of job cuts
in the newspaper industry, as five positions – including hers – were recently
eliminated at the Post.
Friday will be her last day.
Kimbrough-Robinson’s position as
assistant editor of staff development
was created in 2001 in anticipation of
increased staffing, which did not occur.
She said she noticed a change at the
Post in 2006, when her recruiting trips
were reduced from four to one per year.
“We would typically go to NABJ,
NAHJ, AAJA,” she said, referring to
professional ethnic journalism associations. “In 2006, we only went to one conference and just started rotating those.”
While Kimbrough-Robinson’s case is
somewhat rare among recruiters, it is
symptomatic of a greater trend in the
industry.
As some major U.S. dailies move
toward more staff reductions, the jobs
of recruiters are in a state of fluctuation
– some newspaper companies are making cutbacks while others are hiring.
While the Los Angeles Times, St. Louis
Post Dispatch and San Francisco
Chronicle all recently reduced editorial
WILLIAM CHANG,
SENIOR RECRUITER
AT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LATINO REPORTER/MONICA RADRIGAN
CNN International recruiter Miguel A. Zurrita sets up his job booth in the Media and
Career Expo Wednesday in preparation for the NAHJ Convention.
staffs in large numbers, Gannett Inc.,
the Houston Chronicle and the Boston
Globe are all searching to fill positions.
Job descriptions for some recruiters
have also changed, said Rick Edmonds,
media business analyst for the Poynter
Institute. Some recruiters have been
given additional duties, he said. In other
cases, positions have been reduced from
full time to part time.
For newspaper journalists, the
decline in readership has led to lower
profits and taken a toll on many careers.
Recent statistics reported by the
American Society of Newspaper
Editors show a decline of nearly 3 per-
cent in full-time journalists employed at
newspapers from 2001 to 2006. The
2006 count included 11 free dailies that
were not included prior to last year.
But things are not all grim for
recruiters in the industry. The push for
new media that has taken over traditional newspapers has also seeped into
the list of qualifications that recruiters
seek from job candidates.
Most recruiters said jobs for journalists are still available, but companies
that are hiring are being more selective,
looking for journalists with training in
new media. More recent hires are for
opportunities online, Edmonds said.
“The targets are younger people in
schools and people in technology,” he
said.
Applicants with online skills are
more attractive to recruiters, said
Adriana Brockman, College and
Professional Recruiter for Gannett.
“We put a premium not just on knowing
the basics,” she said, “but having added
value as well.”
Kimbrough-Robinson said of all the
positions eliminated at the paper, none
was reduced from the online department, and current journalists have
begun training in new media.
William Chang, senior recruiter at
the Associated Press, said recruiters’
jobs remain essential even at a time
when many positions are not available.
“It’s still important that organizations
have a pipeline for ideal candidates,” he
said. “News organizations can’t make
bad hires.”
Diane Cowen, the newsroom
recruiter for the Houston Chronicle,
said recruiters constantly have to be on
the lookout for good talent.
“There are certain jobs that are
always in demand,” she said. “And you
never know when you will have an opening. You have to be progressive on the
hiring front.”
THE LATINO REPORTER • www.latinoreporterdigital.org
Even recruiters facing job crunch
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Nielsen Monitor-Plus, which
collects media advertising data.
Meanwhile, the need for coverage of Latinos in America is
perhaps greater than ever. The
Latino population grew by 61
percent from 1990 to 2000,
according to the 2000 U.S.
Census.
Spanish-language
dailies grew from a combined
circulation of 140,000 in 1970 to
over 1.7 million in 2002, according to Forbes.
“These publications fill niches in untapped readership and
advertisers, if [only] their owners would look more broadly at
their market demographics
and see beyond the next two
financial quarters,” Bailon said.
There haven’t been layoffs at
Al Día since it was launched in
2003, but several positions
have been kept open, Bailon
said. And a dip in circulation
was strategic: The newspaper
started distributing to a more
targeted readership.
Other Spanish-language
outlets aren’t so lucky.
NBC,
which
acquired
Telemundo in 2001, has
announced it will cut staff at all
of its TV properties, including
Telemundo, according to the
2007 State of the News Media
annual report on www.journalism.org. NBC has also
announced it is planning to
eliminate six local Telemundo
newscasts in major markets in
Houston, Dallas, San Antonio,
San Jose and Phoenix.
Critics say this is at odds
with what NBC promised when
it purchased the network in
2001, because at the time the
company said it would give
Telemundo the resources to
compete
with
Univision.
However, Telemundo is considering expansion in other areas:
It recently announced it may
launch a network in Mexico to
compete with two networks
there.
The Rumbo newspaper
chain, launched in 2004 by journalist
and
businessman
Edward Schumacher-Matos,
once boasted four papers in different Texas metropolitan
areas. But the chain hasn’t met
advertising sales targets in
recent years, leading to a suspension of its Austin edition last
year and a reduction of editions
in Houston, San Antonio and
McAllen/Brownsville from five
to three days a week. And this
year, there were more cuts: The
Houston and San Antonio editions are now published weekly.
After the cuts, advertising
sales dipped slightly because of
concerns about less coverage, but
it bounced back within months,
said Alejandro Manrique,
Rumbo’s managing editor for its
San Antonio edition.
La Opinión, the largest
Spanish-language newspaper
in the United States, had a
round of layoffs in 2004 and a
smaller one last year, said Bill
Graham, the paper’s director of
human resources. But its circulation has been relatively stable, said Jim Pellegrino, circulation director for the newspaper.
The San Jose Mercury
News folded Nuevo Mundo, its
Spanish-language weekly, in
2005 because it wasn’t profitable enough, said former
pubisher Marina Hinestrosa.
Its four-member editorial staff
took buyouts.
The cuts in the industry “hinder cultural development in the
country,” said Gabriel Lerner,
assignment editor for La
Opinión. “This is a serious cutback on original coverage of
telling trends among the
Hispanic-American community.”
Spanish-language journalists urge industry leaders and
advertisers to base their decisions on hard numbers, not
myths.
“Even though there are a lot
more bilingual readers, advertisers don’t think that the
Spanish-speaking population is
very inclined to purchase their
products,” Manrique said.
“This, of course, is a myth, and
we are trying to prove it wrong.
“We are ahead of our times,
and if we manage to survive it,
perhaps we can continue to
grow.”
NAHJ CONVENTION • SAN JOSE 2007
SPANISH | Advertising, circulation improve despite cuts
3
THE LATINO REPORTER • www.latinoreporterdigital.org
Reporters’ experience can help tell story
By Cristian Hernandez
The Latino Reporter
Listening to an immigrant
family tell its story of imminent
deportation, reporter Luz Lazo
fought the urge to cry with
them. Immigration is a subject
Lazo knows well; she and her
family came to the U.S. from El
Salvador when she was 13.
Lazo writes for El Tiempo
Latino, a Spanish-language
newspaper in the metropolitan
Washington area owned by the
Washington Post. She covers a
wide range of immigration
issues and doesn’t feel biased
on the subject.
Latino reporters such as
Lazo often find themselves covering immigration reform and
listening to stories of undocumented families. The immigration issue has become a hot
topic for the media as Congress
scrambles to fix what President
Bush and legislators from both
parties have deemed a broken
system.
But being a Latino reporter
covering immigration has benefits and pitfalls. Some commentators and bloggers say
Latino reporters have a difficult
time remaining objective;
groups such as the Federation
for American Immigration
Reform (FAIR), which seeks to
tighten immigration policies,
disagree.
“Latino reporters can
remain objective,’’ FAIR president Dan Stein said. “We have
always been a very diverse
country. All people have different backgrounds.”
“Sometimes when you talk
to people and you hear their
stories,’’ Lazo said, “you might
be able to relate, because as an
immigrant we might share similar stories. But I don’t feel the
need to advocate.’’
Oscar Avila, a reporter for
the Chicago Tribune who has
covered immigration issues,
agrees. He said he believes that
being a Latino reporter does
not affect his ability to remain
objective. He also said it’s not
the place of a reporter to be
biased.
Avila agrees that being Latino
gives him “a little bit of understanding” about the lives and
experiences of immigrants. Lazo
says it’s a distinct advantage.
“What my background gives
me is an opportunity to tell the
story from the inside,” she said,
“because you belong to them
and have had similar experiences.”
Lazo also feels she can better write about issues concerning undocumented workers
because she understands their
way of living and can identify
with their plight and sacrifices.
But, she said, when covering
politics she always tries to give
“both sides of the story and tell
things as they are.”
Rafael Olmeda, NAHJ president and an assistant city editor at the South Florida SunSentinel, said reporters’ objectivity can be compromised
because everyone has emotions
about a particular subject. But
they should be careful not to let
personal feelings affect the way
they cover immigration, he
said.
“It is important to keep biases in check. Being Latino does
not disqualify somebody from
covering an issue,’’ he said.
“Everybody has a background
and a culture. The issue is not
whether or not there is a bias.”
Latino reporters interviewed for this story said they
feel their audience is instrumental in determining their
coverage.
“Who your audience is certainly affects how you are covering a story,” Avila said.
With a Spanish-speaking
audience, he said, reporters
must understand what subjects
need, or don’t need, explanation. A Latino audience knows
the difference between a Cuban
and Mexican immigrant, but a
different audience may not.
Lazo, whose readership is
primarily Spanish speaking,
covers stories differently than
mainstream English-language
media. She often has to explain
the American legislative
process, for example, because
her audience consists of many
immigrants are not familiar
with how the U.S. government
works.
Latino reporters also feel
that a fluency in the language is
another advantage. Lazo said
immigrants tend to be more
open and trusting of Latino
reporters because of this.
“It brings something to the
story. Many of us speak
Spanish and understand the
complexity of the U.S. immigration system,” said Dianne Solis,
a reporter for the Dallas
Morning News. An NAHJ
founding member, she has covered immigration on and off for
20 years.
Solis grew up in California’s
Silicon Valley surrounded by
immigration issues.
“It inspires me more than
other subjects do,” she said. “It
is incredibly compelling.”
IMMIGRATION | There is still hope for a compromise
NAHJ CONVENTION • SAN JOSE 2007
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
4
Sen. Edward Kennedy (DMass.) said he and fellow supporters of the bill still hope the
bill eventually will pass.
White House spokesman
Scott Stanzel also said that the
immigration measure was far
from being done, noting that
there is strong bipartisan support for it.
In his weekly radio address
after the Senate action,
President Bush said, “I understand the skepticism some
members of Congress have
regarding certain aspects of
this legislation. Like any legislation, this bill is not perfect. And
like many senators, I believe
the bill will need to be further
improved along the way before
it becomes law. In the heat of
the debate, critics and supporters can sometimes talk past
each other.”
The president, finishing up a
visit to Bulgaria and Albania,
said Monday that Reid should
bring the bill back to the Senate
floor for consideration.
An amendment passed after
midnight last Wednesday that
would end the guest-worker
portion of the proposal after
five years, effectively ending
the measure’s chances for passage. Most Democrats backed
the amendment, but it was
passed after Republicans, who
had previously opposed the
measure, switched their votes
knowing the amendment would
lead to the bill’s collapse.
Kennedy,
along
with
Republican Sen. John Kyl of
Arizona, reached the bipartisan compromise last month
that raised hope that U.S.
immigration reforms would be
enacted. But the bill has come
under heavy criticism by both
conservatives and Democrats.
Thursday night, even Kyl voted
against stopping debate.
California’s two Democratic
senators found themselves on different sides of the closure vote.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein voted
to stop debate because she said
the bill was the best hope to
reform U.S. immigration policies. But Sen. Barbara Boxer
voted against closure because
she argued that the guestworker portion of the bill would
lead to worker abuses.
Under the proposal, it would
have provided a path to citizenship for the 12 million people
who entered the country illegally. It also called for 200 miles of
vehicle barriers to be placed
along the Mexican border, 370
miles of fencing and 18,000
additional Border Patrol
agents.
An electronic verification
system that would allow
employers to verify that an
employee is allowed to work
legally would also be required.
Immigrants would have to
undergo a background check
and pay a $1,000 fine before
they could stay in the country
and work with a “Z” visa.
The head of the family
would then have to return to
their native country to fix in
place the application and pay
$4,000 before being allowed to
return to the U.S. while they
wait for a visa.
For immigrants already
waiting to become U.S. citizens,
the wait would have been shorter.
The bill would have done
away with the long-standing
U.S. policy of basing decisions
on the reunification of family
members in the U.S. with those
in other countries. The dead
measure instead placed an
emphasis of merit-based legal
immigration based on a person’s skills and education.
The guest-worker proposal
would have allowed 200,000
guest workers to enter the
country for two years at a time.
That number of guest workers
was 400,000 but was cut in
half by a Senate amendment
that passed last week.
Amendments already made
to the bill include disqualifying
hundreds of thousands of
undocumented
workers
because of prior felony convictions and making English the
official language.
The bipartisan compromise
has come under attack by conservatives who said the bill
gave undocumented immigrants amnesty, believing that
law-breakers should not be
rewarded by the measure.
Immigration rights groups,
labor unions and some
Democrats also blasted the
proposal, saying it would abuse
workers’ rights.
Isabel Garcia, an official
with the Arizona Coalition of
Human Rights, said the amended bill would “create a senseless war-like zone in the border
with Mexico and in our communities.”
Garcia said the proposed bill
would send immigrants deeper
underground and that the
measure strays from the traditional family-based immigration that has historically dominated the system.
Several Democrats pushed
to preserve the family-unification policy. Sen. Robert
Menendez (D-N.J.), one of the
bill’s authors, proposed a provision that would allow more
family-based immigration, but
it was rejected by the Senate
last week.
Republicans spoke out
against the bill, calling it an
“amnesty” that would reward
those who enter the country
without documentation. They
want to amend the bill to make
it harder for millions of undocumentd immigrants to become
naturalized citizens.
Former Massachusetts Gov.
Mitt Romney, who is running
for the GOP presidential nomination, said during the debate
that his opposition to the bill
was “about policies and priorities related to enforcement of
our immigration laws.” A number of Republicans share
Romney’s views and believe the
compromises made by the
Republicans are too great.
For immigants like Yanira
Argueta, the measure’s demise,
for now, hurts.
Argueta, a native of El
Salvador, crossed the border
nine years ago. She lives in
Northern Virginia, is married
and has two children, one in
elementary school. Her family’s
life is that of a middle-class
American family. She was disappointed to hear the immigration bill failed to make it
through the Senate.
“It’s upsetting,” she said.
“They have to continue looking
for a solution. I don’t want to
continue living in fear of deportation.”
Like many undocumented
immigrants, Argueta has started a new life in the U.S. “Some
of us have all of our family here,’’
she said. “We have nothing left
in our (home) countries.”
SURVEY: LATINOS MAKE UP LESS THAN 4 PERCENT OF STAFFS
¡AY MAMI!
Newspaper sports departments across
the country are lagging when it comes to
staff diversity — one year after a study
revealed the industry remains predominately white and male-oriented.
The findings come as Latinos continue to
enjoy consistent growth in the world of professional sports
Latinos made up just 3.56 percent of total
sports staffers and less than one percent of
sports columnists in 2006, according to a
survey commissioned by a national organization of sports editors. Conversely, whites
comprised 88.37 percent of sports staffs and
94.69 percent of sports editors.
Those numbers don’t sit well with
Houston Chronicle veteran sportswriter
John Lopez, believed to be one of just three
Latino sports columnists in the United
States. Lopez has been a sportswriter for the
Chronicle since 1990 and began writing
sports columns in 1998. He said the study
proves Latinos are not getting a fair shake
when breaking into the industry.
“I find it encouraging that the Associated
Press Sports Editors did this study, that they
endorsed this study,” Lopez said. “But I find
it discouraging that basically, in the wake of
the study, they’re still just rubbing their collective chins and saying, ‘Hmm, isn’t that
something,’ rather than actually going out
and doing something.”
However, Michael Fannin, assistant managing editor for the Kansas City Star, points
to many contributing factors as the culprit
behind poor Latino representation across the
board. Among them, he said, is the low number of Latino college students choosing
sports journalism as a potential career.
Fannin will lead the only sports session at
the NAHJ Convention on behalf of APSE on
Friday. He succeeds Jim Jenks, sports editor
of the Philadelphia Inquirer, as organization
president at the conclusion of the APSE
Convention later this month in St. Louis.
“I’m going to focus on diversity a lot in the
next 12 months (as APSE president),” said
Fannin, a Latino who will be the first person
of color to be APSE president in the 33-year
history of the organization. “But I think that
we also have to look to a grassroots growth
that we’re not seeing.
“We have to put an emphasis on reaching
out to colleges to find that kid who has an
interest in sports journalism and really bring
them to the fore in the college newsroom
environment,” Fannin added.
The issue of equal opportunity for Latino
journalists and reflecting the readership of a
community go hand-in-hand for Houston
Chronicle sportswriter Bernardo Fallas, who
began his journalism career at the Chronicle
in 2004 and covers Major League Soccer’s
Houston Dynamo.
As a Latino journalist, Fallas said he has a
responsibility to reach out to the Latino com-
STUDY FOUND
WHITE AMERICA
DOMINATES IN
SPORT NEWSROOMS
AP Sports Editors | Report Card
By Mark Suarez
The Latino Reporter
1.6 % African American Sports Editors
5.5 % Latino Sports Editors
1.6 % Asian Sports Editors
12.6 % Women in Total Staff
94.7 % Sports Editors
86.7 % Asst. Sports Editors
89.9 % Columnists
87.4 % Copy Editors
LATINO REPORTER/DENNY ROBLES
munity but provide coverage for all Dynamo
fans regardless of race.
“I don’t want to sell the Dynamo only to
Hispanics or only in a way Hispanics would
care for it,” Fallas said. “But at the same time
you have to have this understanding that
some people don’t have the ability to communicate and understand the Latino community.”
Latinos represent 37 percent of
Houstonians, the largest ethnic group in the
city. Chronicle sports editor Fred Faour leads
a diverse staff that includes several Latinos.
The key to having a strong sports staff in
one of the most diverse cities in the world,
Faour said, rests on the Chronicle’s ability to
find journalists who are capable of putting
their finger on the pulse of the community.
Achieving that goal nationally, though, is
more realistic at a paper the Chronicle’s size,
he said. The Houston Chronicle has a daily
circulation of 450,000 newspapers and a
Sunday circulation of 600,000.
“I just think it’s easy to sit here at the
Houston Chronicle and say you have to do
this because we do have a power to make
some changes,” Faour said. “But it’s a lot different when you’re a little paper in the
Midwest with a staff of two and you’re lucky
to get somebody for minimum wage.”
The solution to the issue cannot be
answered by turning to affirmative action,
said Lopez, who believes the numbers cannot
be ignored.
“When you see the number three (of 318
Latino sports columnists) … that tells you
that they’re not even getting a chance.”
Latina journalists
fight sexy image,
keep confianza
We are strong. We are passionate. We are beautiful.
Somos Latinas.
When did we become sexualized burritos with hips?
Latinas are portrayed as
spicy-hot lovers in the media
more so than any other ethnic
group. Our stereotype is a sensual woman dancing an alluring salsa in a snug red dress
that hugs our ample hips and
small waist.
Although there’s nothing
wrong with being sexy and
projecting confianza, an overgeneralization of Latinas may
make it more difficult for professional women, like those
attending NAHJ’s 2007 convention, to be taken seriously
as journalists.
We are more, far more, than
Spanish-speaking sex fiends,
but the media, especially the
internet, would have you think
otherwise.
A Latina Web Content
study conducted by Romelia
Salinas, a doctoral candidate in
the Graduate School of
Education and Information
Studies at the University of
California, Los Angeles, found
that 38 percent of internet
sites about Latinas were
pornographic.
“Pornographic sites were
overrepresented in Latina content considering that only 12
percent of all Web sites are
pornographic,” Salinas said.
Latinas on these sites are
objectified as exotic sluts and
illegal “brown whores” who
would do anything to gain citizenship.
Pornography isn’t the only
internet genre to sexualize
Latinas. Beauty was the focus
of 11 percent of the sites
Salinas studied, which she said
contributes to the belief that
physical appearance is the
most valued quality for
Latinas.
Even Latina Magazine’s
Web site reminds readers of
the “classic Latina body type:
small waist, full, sexy hips.”
Latinas belong to the most
colorful and all-encompassing
ethnicity on earth. We are a
rainbow, from blanco to negro
and every color in between.
While some are curvy and
thin-waisted, others are tall,
thin, short or thick.
Our bodies, and the spicy
sabor that is marketed with
them, are used as commodities
for Latin markets and
American markets as well.
Latina celebrities like Salma
Hayek and Jennifer Lopez are
celebrated not only for their
talents but for their heritage,
which is often emphasized to
reconnect to the sexy stereotype.
Tecate beer advertisements
would fall flat without the hot
chica holding a frosty bottle
and it would be hard to imagine watching “Sábado Gigante”
if it were only Don Francisco
on stage.
We are a generation blessed
with predecessors who fought
for women’s and Latinos’
equality, yet, as female journalists, we are facing boundaries
and judgments based on
stereotypes, like those in telenovelas and music videos.
I have no doubt that the
Latinas who enter NAHJ’s
convention are strong, passionate, beautiful and talented.
With every well-done article, broadcast, script or Web
site created by these periodistas, another piece of the
Latina’s stereotype is chipped
away.
While I realize some of
these stereotypes exist in our
society, we shouldn’t allow
them to limit or dictate who
are or what we do.
There is more to these burritos than beans and rice.
THE LATINO REPORTER • www.latinoreporterdigital.org
Celina R. Tousignant
NAHJ CONVENTION • SAN JOSE 2007
Sports departments
fall short in diversity
5
THE LATINO REPORTER • www.latinoreporterdigital.org
ENTERTAINMENT
Bay Area youth finds own hip-hop style
HYPHY HAS GOTTEN
NATIONAL RECOGNITION,
BUT HAS IT PEAKED?
By Maira Garcia
The Latino Reporter
When hyphy fans want to dance at a
club in the Bay Area, they start by
“thizzin” or “going dumb.”
Jay Sun knows hyphy culture when
he sees it.
"It's entertainment. Doing certain
things you wouldn't do, like stunts with
vehicles, ecstasy mixed with alcohol,
and gold grills," said Sun, co-owner of
Made in the Bay clothing company. “If
you're from the hood, fine. But if you
turn on the radio, see the page in the
magazine or on YouTube, it’s stuff you
won't understand.”
The use of ecstasy (known as
thizzin’), alcohol and potent purple marijuana (called grapes) is common when
people jerk, shake and stomp as they
dance, or “go dumb.’’ “It's a hip hop version of rave music,” Sun said. “It's the
same drugs and loud music.”
In recent years, the buzzword around
the Bay Area and in the hip hop industry
has been hyphy. The lifestyle has a lan-
NAHJ CONVENTION • SAN JOSE 2007
“ I had spent the last four
6
years dashing from one international crisis to another,
sleeping on airport floors
and going to more coups
than concerts. The Knight
Fellow-ships gave me a
chance to understand the
conflicts I’d been writing
about, providing time, perspective and access to some
of the nation’s top thinkers.
Now I don’t just quote
famous authors; I’ve met
them at our weekly seminars
and read their books.”
— Frances Robles
Correspondent,
Miami Herald
Knight Fellow 2005
guage of its own and is associated with
car stunts and loud up-tempo music.
Bay Area rapper Keak da Sneak takes
credit for coining the term hyphy, which
is short for hyperactive, or a combination of “hyper” and “fly,” according to
the Web site hyphymovement.com.
Sun, whose El Cerrito clothing company caters to the genre, grew up in the
North Bay listening to Mac Dre, a slain
Bay Area rapper influential in shaping
the hyphy scene.
Sun’s products include oversized
flashy sunglasses called “stunna’’
shades, “grape” hoodies and “yellow
bus” polo T-shirts, a politically incorrect
reference to the buses used for the mentally challenged.
When local radio stations placed Bay
Area rappers on regular rotation, the
movement picked up momentum
nationwide.
“The Bay Area got to shine in radio in
2004,” Sun said. “Artists were putting
out street anthems that were more
radio friendly, and it was perfect timing
for fans of the Bay Area culture.
Now, the status of Bay Area rap and
hyphy are being debated, with some
wondering if the hyphy movement has
reached its peak nationwide.
Hyphy was featured in magazines
Online
Check out Maira Garcia’s video
of a student discussing how to ghost
ride the whip. | www.nahj.org
from Vibe to Newsweek. Network news
shows on CNN and CBS ran stories on
“ghost riding the whip,” a stunt popularized by the music, where people jump out
and dance alongside a slow-moving car.
Sun said the overexposure was too
much too fast, creating a backlash.
Branden Peters, lifestyle editor at
XXL magazine, said at the end of the day
artists didn't capitalize on the movement like they should have.
“It's a situation where people didn't
strike when the iron was hot,” he said.
But it may not be too late. E-40’s release
“My Ghetto Report Card” debuted at No. 1
on the Billboard R&B/Hip Hop charts in
2006, and major labels are signing more
artists such as Mistah F.A.B, The
Federation and The Pack.
Releases later this year by E-40 and
Mistah F.A.B. will be indicators of the
movement's success or failure, according to Peters. If received well, the subgenre could be used as a vehicle for rappers to climb out of the hyphy pigeon-
hole and into mainstream success, just
as T.I. did with crunk, Peters said.
“It's party music. Hip hop always
needs space for it like crunk and screw,”
he said. “The talent will stay if the artist
is strong.”
In 2006, MTV released a short documentary titled Hyphy: Crunk Northern
California-Style, which gave the nation a
taste of the hyphy lifestyle.
Sun says the documentary gave a
watered down version.
“People will tell you something different in the streets,” he said. “It's an
expression of freedom, being a rebel and
playing loud music.”
Peters compared hyphy to another
regional subculture, screwed and
chopped rap, which gained national
attention as well.
"Hyphy is like the screw culture from
Houston," he said. "You can't embody it,
but if you like it, it is something you can
understand."
Sun said unless you come from the
streets, hyphy isn’t a lifestyle for everybody.
“There were people who weren't
from the Bay Area when it got popularized and it was a little awkward,” he
said. “If you're not from that culture, you
can't relate. You're falsifying.”
John S. Knight Fellowships
at Stanford University 2008-2009
Twelve U.S. journalists win Knight
Fellowships at Stanford each year.
WHAT DO THEY GET?
Nine months of study, intellectual growth and professional
change at one of the world’s great universities, right in the
middle of Silicon Valley – in classes, independent study
and research and special forums with academic and
journalism leaders. At the end of the year they
return to the rapidly changing journalism landscape with a renewed sense of purpose, deeper
knowledge and tools to tackle the challenges ahead.
The application deadline for next year is February 1, 2008.
For a brochure and application form, visit our website:
http://knight.stanford.edu
John S. Knight Fellowships
Building 120, Room 424
Stanford, CA 94305-2050
Phone: (650) 723-4937
Fax:
(650) 725-6154
e-mail: [email protected]
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
­
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Reporters and editors and anchors
Photographers and producers and
news directors
Editorial cartoonists and multimedia
producers — and more
We want journalists who have already accomplished a lot and are ambitious to do more.
Candidates must have seven years’ professional experience. Fellows receive a stipend
of $55,000 plus tuition, and supplements for
health insurance, books, housing and child
care. All benefits and activities of the program
are open to spouses and partners of Fellows.
THE LATINO REPORTER • www.latinoreporterdigital.org
A RUN FOR THE RECORD
THE LATINO REPORTER/DANNY RODRIGUEZ
San Francisco Giants' Barry Bonds during batting practice at AT&T Park in San Francisco, on Monday.
FANS, MEDIA MEMBERS
OFFER TAKE ON
GIANTS’ SLUGGER
By Mark Suarez
The Latino Reporter
San Francisco Giants outfielder
Barry Bonds dug into the batters box on
a brisk summer evening at AT&T Park
Monday, the black Louisville Slugger
draped over his shoulder transformed
into a lightning rod.
Two pitches into his second at-bat,
Bonds connected. The ball sailed over
the fence in right center field for his
747th home run, moving him one step
closer to eclipsing one of major league
baseball's most sacred records.
The hit ended a 14-game home run
drought for Bonds in the Giants’ 4-3 win
over Toronto, and sent the 38,030
Giants fans on hand to into a frenzy.
In a word, Bonds was again superhuman.
"He’s one of the best players that ever
lived," said Bonds supporter Ron
Fenech, 32, who was in the stands for
the game.
However, the controversy surrounding Bonds throughout his pursuit of the
all-time home run record of 755 -- set by
Hall of Famer Hank Aaron -- has been a
hot button issue for Major League
Baseball in recent years.
The debate reached a boiling point
last year when San Francisco Chronicle
investigative reporters Lance Williams
and Mark Fainaru-Wada published
“Game of Shadows,” a book outlining
Bonds' connection with steroid use dating back to 1999.
Fainaru-Wada believes the sentiment
that exists among fans in the Bay Area
remains varied, and is largely based on
Bonds follows through on a single off Toronto Blue Jays' pitcher A.J.
Burnett at AT&T Park in San Francisco, on Tuesday.
each fan's allegiance to the Giants.
"There's certainly a segment of the
Giants-Bonds population that are sports
fans through and through, they don't
want to really hear about the controversy," Fainaru-Wada said. "They prefer to
forget it and enjoy Bonds hitting home
runs. I think there's also a part of the
fan base that is somewhat shifted on
this, who are frustrated or tired of all of
the controversy, how he's taken over the
team, how the Giants have just kind of
handed the ball club over to him."
ESPN television analyst Pedro
Gomez, who is assigned to cover the
Bonds spectacle, said the atmosphere
surrounding the embattled slugger has
been quiet but could erupt once he surpasses 750 home runs. Gomez believes
the media attention could potentially
have a negative effect on the Giants’
team chemistry. The club is currently in
last place in the National League West
and looking to turn their season around
prior to San Francisco hosting the AllStar Game on July 10.
But Bonds' supporters outside the
clubhouse, such as long time season
ticket holder Edwina Collett, have
embraced that attention.
"That’s what a lot of us come to see
besides the game in general," said
Collett, who sat is in her field level seat
on Monday night while watching batting
practice. "I want to see him break the
record like a lot of people do. It doesn’t
matter to me. Nothing has been proven
as far as his steroid use.”
Not all fans in attendance supported
Bonds on his quest to become baseball's
all-time home run leader. Gloria Roa
believes the reported steroid use in
“Game of Shadows,” which indicated
Bonds knowingly took performanceenhancing drugs from Victor Conte, the
founding president of Bay Area
Laboratories Co-Operative (BALCO), is
a sign of guilt.
"I don’t really think he deserves all
the accolades that he’s getting right
now," said Roa, 38, of Redwood City. "I
do feel that he has cheated, that he’s
taken substances that have helped his
performance. Although they may not be
banned [by Major League Baseball] I
really do feel that he’s done this the
wrong way.”
First-year Giants manager Bruce
Bochy knows Bonds may not be able to
swing the bat as effectively as he once
did, but that the seven-time National
League Most Valuable Player still has
the ability to strike fear in the hearts of
opposing pitchers.
Through 58 games, Bonds has drawn
64 walks and cranked out 13 homeruns.
He has struck out 26 times, a sure sign
Bochy believes Bonds still has a good
eye at the plate.
"We can't forget this guy is approaching 43," Bochy said before Monday’s
game to reporters in the dugout. "To
expect him to swing the way that he did
when he was in his prime, I think we're
asking a little too much here. I know the
bar has been set so high with Barry and
the fact of the matter is he is getting a
little bit older and he needs more rest.
He's going to miss a few more pitches
than he did in his prime but he still can
hit the ball a long way."
Fans and Major League Baseball officials will continue to watch as Bonds
makes his push for history. Experts have
predicted it could happen near the end of
July. Fainaru-wada said when that day
comes, reality will be out the window.
Said Fainaru-Wada: "Clearly there is
a celebration going on in the Bay Area
and the team is going to celebrate his
success, but it is somewhat clouded by
the reality."
NAHJ CONVENTION • SAN JOSE 2007
The Barry Show: Playing nightly
7
The Bonds saga:
Attraction
or distraction?
THE LATINO REPORTER • www.latinoreporterdigital.org
THE LATINO REPORTER • www.latinoreporterdigital.org
A RUN FOR THE RECORD
Latino Reporter photographer
Danny Rodriguez and reporter
8
AT&T Park in San Francisco to
capture Barry Bonds’ historic
quest for the Major League
Baseball home run record.
NAHJ CONVENTION • SAN JOSE 2007
NAHJ CONVENTION • SAN JOSE 2007
Mark Suarez spent Monday at
9
Por Mariana Muñiz Lara
El Reportero Latino
Foto / Mariana Muñiz
Arriba, Román Sierra le da los últimos toques a su lugar de trabajo
para recibir a los invitados de la
convención. Al lado, Melissa Jordán
prepara la información que estará
accesible a los universitarios.
El productor de Bloomberg News
recomendó a los visitantes “que sean
muy abiertos y no les de vergüenza preguntar. Hay tanto en esta convención
que las personas tienden a cohibirse”.
Internados, empleos para principiantes y posiciones para avanzar profesionalmente en el periodismo son
algunos de los ofrecimientos que tienen
decenas de medios de comunicación de
Estados Unidos en la Exposición, que
comenzó hoy en el Centro de
Convenciones de San José.
Melissa Jordan, reclutadora del San
José Mercury News, exhortó a los asistentes a “visitar todos los puestos,
aunque no estén seguros si quieren trabajar en esos medios”.
No obstante, el reclutador de Pappas
Telecasting, Roger Gadley resaltó que
los interesados deben ser específicos al
indicar a qué puesto aspiran, porque “si
no, su información se pierde”. Informó
que, actualmente, tienen posiciones de
reporteros, anclas y productores
disponibles en varias de las 27 estaciones de la compañía.
CONVENCIÓN NAHJ• SAN JOSÉ 2007
DICE un dicho, hoy por ti, mañana
por mí.
Este es el caso de Román Sierra. Hace
diez años, Sierra participó del Proyecto
para Estudiantes en la Convención Anual
de la Asociación Nacional de Periodistas
Hispanos (NAHJ) e hizo contactos en la
Exposición de Medios y Carrera para
conseguir un internado.
Hoy, como reclutador de “Bloomberg
News”, espera ayudar a otros jóvenes a
alcanzar lo mismo pero él, igual que los
demás entrevistadores, buscan talento,
no importa su origen étnico, pero si
hablan español mejor.
“Todos los años, recogemos aquí
solicitudes para internados y trabajo, y
hace falta, porque hay una necesidad
grandísima de periodistas de noticias
financieras que hablen español”, señaló
Sierra.
Añadió que buscan profesionales
especializados en negocios para su
canal de televisión en español, que se
transmite en 18 países latinoamericanos.
También les interesa reclutar para su
canal en inglés, reporteros que tengan
experiencia en televisión, aunque no en
finanzas, pues reconocen que a nivel
académico se ofrece poco entrenamiento en este campo.
EL REPORTERO LATINO • www.NAHJdigital.org
Reclutadores buscan sólo talento
7
EL REPORTERO LATINO • www.NAHJdigital.org
Busca escenarios teatro hispano
Por Martha G. Flores Pérez
El Reportero Latino
Eliza Marina Alvarado
A PESAR de que la población
latina crece en todas partes de
Estados Unidos, el impacto del
teatro hispano sufre todavía de
poca representación.
Conocedores sobre el tema aseguran que en estos días hay más
necesidad de teatro y de actores bilingües que puedan crear personajes latinos en obras artísticas.
En San José (California), existe
Teatro Visión, una de las pocas
compañías culturales que promueve el teatro como una experiencia única con un mensaje universal.
“El teatro es una arma de conciencia”, manifestó Eliza Marina
Alvarado, directora creativa de la
compañía teatral.
Esta compañía produce tres
obras anualmente, dos de las tres ya
realizadas fueron en español con
supertítulos para la audiencia no
hispano-parlante. La importancia
de presentar historias que han sido
negadas u olvidadas es prioridad
para esta comunidad artística,
comentó Alvarado.
• Conocedores
sobre el tema
aseguran que en
estos días hay más
necesidad de teatro
y de actores
bilingües que
puedan crear
personajes latinos
en obras artísticas
Asimismo, está el Repertorio
Español y Teatro Thalia en Nueva
York.
Estas dos compañías
teatrales también se preocupan por
el mantenimiento del idioma
español en las nuevas generaciones.
René Buch, director artístico del
Repertorio, opinó que “muchos de
los hispanos de segunda generación
pierden el idioma… por eso
nosotros hemos sembrado un
Alternativo con sonido diferente
interés por el teatro clásico de
primera”.
Esta compañía actualmente esta
produciendo diez obras que alternan cada noche. Los actores están
en varias producciones durante la
temporada.
Además, las obras son hechas en
español o inglés, con traducciones
que son transmitidas por un sistema de audio.
“Parecemos la unión panamericana por la diversidad de actores y
edades. Tenemos actores y publico
de todos los países latinoamericanos”, afirmo Buch.
Mientras, el Teatro Thalia “presenta la rica cultura y diversidad de
todos los países hispano-parlantes”
dijo Ángel Gil, director artístico y
ejecutivo de esa compañía. Durante
audiciones es sumamente importante para Gil que el actor sea bilingüe. Indicó no ser partidario de la
mezcla de idiomas.
“El actor bilingüe debe hablar
muy bien ambos idiomas”, afirmó
Gil, quien agregó que las producciones son obras traducidas que
“cobran vida con los actores para
que el publico pueda apreciarlas”.
Fin a campaña pro inmigrantes
América Arias
El Reportero Latino
Por Martha G. Flores Pérez
CONVENCIÓN NAHJ• SAN JOSÉ 2007
El Reportero Latino
6
LA MÚSICA es un lenguaje universal, sin embargo, no
todos los géneros son conocidos y uno de los menos es la
música alternativa en español.
Antes el género sólo incluía
lo que se considera metal pesado, pero ahora el término de
alternativo latino cubre una
variedad de componentes
musicales como el rock, electrónica, punk, funk y hip hop.
La música alternativa se
diferencia entre las variedades
de géneros que los músicos
usan, como la base de rock u
otro elemento y añaden sus
propia influencia folklórica de
sus respectivos países de origen o culturas.
Morvius, un grupo de
Texas, que por casi ocho años
han sobrevivido con ese género
musical. El grupo cantan en
español y la prioridad de ellos
es conquistar al publico de su
localidad antes de alcanzar
mayores logros.
“Aun siendo mexicanos, el
grupo es de Dallas y nos consideramos una banda de acá.
Entonces es importante para
El cantante principal de la
banda Morvius.
nosotros que la gente nos
conozca más aquí”, dijo Anwar,
baterista del grupo.
Explicó que comparado con
bandas que sólo tocan en
ingles, los músicos latinos alternativos tienen menos oportunidades de triunfar a nivel
nacional.
Según Melvin Ortiz. de la
revista alternativa, Al borde,
“para que una banda pueda ser
oída tiene que hacerse medio
pop, porque la radio no los toca
por el miedo de perder clientela.
“En Estados Unidos, lo que
más se vende en el mercado
musical latino es lo regional,
que incluye texmex, acompañado por pop y reggaetón. Es difí-
cil lograr la atención de disqueras”, dijo .
Agregó que no obstante
siguen naciendo bandas locales
las cuales usan la tecnología
para promocionarse y producirse como independientes.
Indicó que también existen
sitios de Internet como ‘my
space’ y ‘you tube’ que son utilizados como distribuidores de
sus producciones.
A pesar de la iniciación individual, Anwar señaló que uno
de los mayores obstáculos en
esta trayectoria musical ha
sido encontrar lugares para
tocar. La comunidad que aprecia esta música existe, tal como
el Café SolArt, en Santa Ana,
California, una comunidad que
apoya a varios músicos locales
al aportarles espacio para sus
presentaciones.
La escena en Los Ángeles es
el nido de mayor concentración
de bandas alternativas latinas.
Más ahora, que la pasión a este
género se ha organizado para
crear la Conferencia de música
Alternativa Latina (LAMC por
siglas en ingles). Este género
es algo distinto a lo popular
para la nueva generación de
latinos.
LLENO de esperanza y con
una meta en mente, Eduardo
“Piolín” Sotelo, el locutor del programa de radio más escuchado
en California, completa este
jueves la campaña pro-inmigrantes sin visas.
La cruzada la inició a través
de su programa Piolín por la
Mañana, en de la emisora La
Nueva 101.9-F, enfocada en orientar a los indocumentados
que desean legalizarse en este
país.
Por varios meses, la campaña
“Por la reforma migratoria con
Piolín”, hizo un llamado a toda la
comunidad hispana para recaudar un millón de cartas en apoyo
a su causa.
“Las cartas están dirigidas al
presidente George W. Bush, al
Senado y a la Cámara de
Representantes de los Estados
Unidos que pide una reforma
comprensiva y justa”, afirmó
Georgia Carrera, directora de
relaciones públicas de la emisora.
Carrera dio a conocer las
metas de esta iniciativa del popular locutor y de las acciones que
están tomando para que la Casa
Blanca escuche sus suplicas.
“Este es un proyecto que nos
permite la ley hacer en Estados
Unidos de forma pacífica para
demostrar que merecemos una
oportunidad para estar realmente en este país donde tenemos
trabajo,
pagamos
impuestos y damos servicio a la
comunidad”, dijo la portavoz de
La Nueva 101.9.
Carrera también señaló que
al locutor Sotelo le preocupa
mucho el tema de la indocumentados porque “muchas familias
hispanas son separadas cuando
alguno de sus padres son deportados por las autoridades migratorias”.
“Sotelo vino a los Estados
Unidos como indocumentado
en 1986. Él conoce la necesidad
de personas que salen de su trabajo o de sus casas con temor
de ser deportados cuando lo
único que quieren es mantener
a sus hijos”, comentó la gerente
de relaciones publicas.
Carrera señaló que esta es
una campaña “del pueblo
porque son ellos quienes hacen
las marchas, escriben las cartas
y hacen llamadas telefónicas a
los congresistas con gran éxito”.
La campaña comenzó el
pasado domingo en Los Ángeles y culmina este jueves en la
capital de Washington donde el
“Piolín” y sus seguidores le
entregaran a los congresistas
las más de un millón de cartas
que reunieron.
FOTO / GUSTAVO MARTÍNEZ CONTRERAS
Gustavo Martínez Contreras
El Reportero Latino
DESDE un maní hasta una casa, todo se encuentra en “Flea Market” de San José, conocido por los
hispanos de la ciudad como “La Pulga”.
Sin embargo, a casi 50 años de su apertura, está a
punto de cerrar sus puertas y con eso llevarse al olvido las memorias y la diversión de muchos latinos.
“El Flea Market ha sido toda una vida de trabajo
duro, de lucha para sacar adelante a mi familia y darle
carrera a mis hijos”, dijo Salomón Romero, que cuenta ya con 20 años de trabajo en el lugar. “Aquí las
familias hispanas encuentran productos a precios
accesibles y se reúnen a pasar los fines de semana”.
Sin embargo, aseguró el comerciante, hay una
baja en la clientela que afecta a todos los negociantes
desde los atentados terroristas del 11 de septiembre
de 2001 y los rumores del cierre inminente del lugar
son sólo el colofón de la debacle que actualmente
padece el mercado.
A pesar de esto, aún hay quienes encuentran en el
pulguero las reminiscencias de la tierra que un día
dejaron atrás para venir a Estados Unidos en busca
de oportunidades.
“Aquí es como un mercado mexicano y por eso
venimos”, dijo José Juárez, quien emigró de Oaxaca,
México, hace ocho años. “En La Pulga hay frutas, verduras y hasta el entretenimiento que lo hacen sentir a
uno como si estuviera en casa aunque esté tan lejos”.
Y es que al caminar por los pasillos que albergan a
los poco más de 2,000 locales de esta plaza, se evocan
en unos sabores y distancias hechas recuerdos vívidos
gracias a los aromas de la fruta fresca y los vegetales.
El Reportero Latino
EL REPORTERO LATINO • www.NAHJdigital.org
superior con mucha voluntad
de ser universitaria. Ingresó
en New York City Community
DE UNA simple obrera en Collage, donde obtuvo el
bachiller en
una factoría de Nueva York, grado de
Mildred García pasó a ser la Administración de Empresas.
En esa etapa trabajaba y
primera mujer latina en estar al
mando de una universidad del luego en el salón de clases, el
cansancio era su
estado, en Carson,
amigo fiel.
California.
La ruta académica
Dos años después
ya estaba marcada.
de la muerte de su
Hizo dos maestrías y
padre las carencias
un doctorado en pedaen el hogar de García
gogía en la “Columbia
incrementaron y a
University” en Nueva
sus 14 años comenzó
York.
a trabajar.
Dijo que por ser
“Mi familia vino a
latina y mujer sufrió
los Estados Unidos Mildred García
múltiple discriminen.
como la mayoría
buscando un mejor futuro. Y Lo que cegó su visión de metas
aunque eramos pobres nunca alta. Explicó que muchas veces
faltó el amor”, afirmó García, recibió elogios por su buena
quien se dedicó a laborar en pronunciación al inglés. “Es
como si por ser latina, fuera
una fábrica.
Su padre, quien se dedica- impedimento hablarlo correctaba a las ventas le brindó la mente”.
Además soportó escuchar
mejor educación que sus
burlas sobre su raza.
recursos le permitieron.
“Eso me dio más fuerzas y
“Esa fue la mejor decisión
que pude tomar pues sólo así ganas de demostrarle a todos
entendí que no quería dedicar lo que era capaz de hacer.
mi vida a laborar allí. Quería Nosotros (los latinos) no
ser algo más.”, recordó podemos demostrar que
García, de padres puertor- somos vagos, al contrario tenriquenos pero nacida en emos que demostrar que
Brooklyn a optar por buscar estamos presentes y bien
preparados en éste país”, asevuna mejor educación.
Se graduó de la escuela eró la educadora en entrevista.
Por María del Mar Cintrón
CONVENCIÓN NAHJ• SAN JOSÉ 2007
Ebullición en
‘la pulga’
De la fábrica a la cátedra
5
EL REPORTERO LATINO • www.NAHJdigital.org
Tortuosa ruta
del alumno ilegal
Por Martha G. Flores Pérez
El Reportero Latino
Los jóvenes indocumentados se ven obligados a pagar la totalidad de sus
estudios universitarios debido a que no son elegibles para recibir ayudas
financieras federales para sus estudios.
SER UN estudiante indocumentado
es la última carta de la baraja. No puede
pagar los estudios porque no trabaja y no
trabaja porque no tiene permiso.
Pero tampoco necesita permiso para
estudiar.
Por eso su día a día es una verdadera
incertidumbre, que se acentúa al iniciar
la vida laboral, porque ese implacable
mundo que se van a enfrentar no les es
explicado ni en la casa ni en la escuela.
“Siento que no estoy al tanto de lo que
me espera, eso no se habla mucho en mi
escuela. Y en mi casa tampoco, porque es
algo negativo y mis padres evitan abordar
problemas negativos”, dijo Verónica
Hernández, una estudiante de 19 años del
South Seattle Community College.
Durante sus estudios secundarios,
nadie en la escuela se interesó en saber si
Hernández tenía o no un estatus legal en
este país. Lo único que les importó fue que
estudiara.
El resultado de todo este dilema es que
ella no estaba preparada para el futuro.
Al salir de la secundaria,
Hernández se dio cuenta era una ilegal
más que viví en el silencio, entre los
más de 12 millones de ilegales que hay
en Estados Unidos.
“Tengo miedo de que sí hablo mucho,
le pueda suceder algo a mi familia y a
mi”, dijo la joven mexicana.
Lo mismo piensa Cristina, otra estudiante de Seattle, que por temor no quiso
dar su apellido y para quien, “vivir en las
sombras ha sido la vida de muchos de
estos estudiantes, los cuales tienen que
lidiar con la escuela, el trabajo y además
encargarse de la familia”.
El sistema escolar estadounidense no
es uniforme. Las municipalidades y los
estados tienen reglas diferentes, pero
que suelen ser más inflexibles en la medida que el joven inmigrante va subiendo,
poco a poco en el sistema. La enseñanza
primaria, por ejemplo, es mucho más
flexible al inmigrante clandestino que las
universidades.
“Los estudiantes indocumentados no
son elegibles para recibir ayuda
financiera federal o estatal. No tiene otro
‘chance’ que pedir becas privadas. Pero
algunas de esas becas exigen un número
de seguro social”, dijo Raúl Anaya, director asistente en la Universidad del estado de Washington.
En los últimos meses ha crecido en
el país un movimiento a favor del acceso de los indocumentados a la carrera
universitaria, que ha abarcado incluso
a legisladores federales como el congresista republicano por Miami,
Lincoln Díaz-Balart, uno de los propulsores del Dream Act.
“Estos estudiantes en su extraordinaria mayoría vinieron aquí de niños,
no tomaron la decisión de venir indocumentados. La realidad es que los
hijos están siendo castigados por la
decisión de sus padres. Esos jóvenes la
única decisión que han tomado ha sido
estudiar, trabajar y ser responsables.
Creo que merecen estudiar como
cualquier otro joven en Estados
Unidos”, dijo Díaz-Balart, en exclusiva
a El Reportero Latino.
Emergen los ‘Blogs’ con muchas ‘ñ’
Gustavo Martínez Contreras
CONVENCIÓN NAHJ• SAN JOSÉ 2007
El Reportero Latino
4
PARA Juan Guillermo
Tornoe escribir en su blog no
es sólo parte de su rutina
diaria: es un compromiso.
“Todas las noches, cuando
la familia se duerme, me pongo
a trabajar en mi blog”, dice
Tornoe, guatemalteco avecindado en Austin, Texas, y
creador del blog Hispanic
Trending.
“Los blogs dan más información a las personas, dan acceso a
muchas cosas que regularmente
no se cubren en los medios convencionales”, aseguró.
Y es que con el incremento
en el número de usuarios his-
panos de Internet, se viene
también una crecida en la
diversidad de voces que suenan desde el ciberespacio a
través de blogs o bitácoras en
la Red.
De acuerdo con el estudio
“The AOL Latino 2006
Hispanic Cyberstudy”, hasta
hace seis meses navegaban en
la Internet más de 16 millones
de hispanos.
De estos, el 52 por ciento lee
o escribe en estos blogs, hecho
que, según Tornoe, fomenta
“la libre expresión de pensamientos y sirve para tener
un diálogo”.
Y es que en la Red se hallan
las más variadas opiniones y,
como dice el mismo Tornoe,
• “Los blogs dan más información a las
personas, dan acceso a muchas cosas
que regularmente no se cubren en los
medios convencionales.”
“la gente encuentra la información que está buscando”.
Aunque no hay un censo de
los blogs hispanos que existen
en la actualidad, se ha visto un
florecimiento de estas bitácoras que hablan desde cuestiones personales hasta temas
políticos y de actualidad.
Sin embargo, el estudio
AOL indica que el bloguero
latino aún se encuentra dando
sus primeros pasos y, a la par
de este inicio, hay quienes ya
están fijando sus ojos en el
potencial de este creciente
mercado.
Pero el mercado hispano,
tal y como sus blogs reflejan,
no es tan fácil de entender ni
de alcanzar.
Cifras dadas a conocer en
los reportes “Latinos Online” y
“Bloggers: A portrait of the
internet’s new storytellers”,
elaborados por el Pew Internet
and American Life Project,
revelan que aún entre la gran
masa hispana que sólo habla
español en Estados Unidos,
compuesta en su mayoría por
inmigrantes mexicanos, apenas una de cada tres personas
usan la Internet, alejándolos
así de cualquier participación
en la denominada “democracia digital”.
Esta situación se ve íntimamente relacionada, dice el
estudio, con bajos niveles de
educación, poco o nulo manejo
del inglés y la falta de familiaridad que tienen los hispanos
mayores de 60 años con las
nuevas tecnologías.
América Arias
El Reportero Latino
LOS HISPANOS en Estados Unidos
suelen venir de países donde las autoridades policiales tienen una credibilidad
casi, sino totalmente, nula.
Aquí muchos esperaban encontrar
una situación diferente, pero a raíz de las
medidas migratorias implementadas
por el gobierno federal, tras los atentados
del 11 de septiembre, están descubriendo
que en Estados Unidos el ambiente no es
muy diferente.
En California, varios departamentos
de policía han comenzado abiertamente
a inspirar miedo y recelo entre los inmigrantes después que se supo que se ha
atribuido responsabilidades de inmigración a policías comunes y corrientes,
muchas veces sin el entrenamiento adecuado especializado e, incluso, los han
dotado de la suficiente autoridad para
ordenar la deportación de personas.
La situación es tan seria, que activistas de inmigración están hablando de un
FOTO / AP
Un de las recientes redadas de inmigrantes fue realizada en una compañía localizada en Greely, Colorado.
daño perenne a la confianza de la comunidad.
“Atribuirles un rol de agentes de inmigración es muy peligroso. Abre las puertas a la discriminación racial”, dijo el abogado y portavoz de la Asociación
Americana de Libertades Civiles
(ACLU), John de León.
Al ex director de la ACLU en la
Florida, le preocupa que los policías
locales se están olvidando que su prioridad es servir y proteger al público y no
inspirar miedo.
En las últimas semanas, se reportaron en California varios casos de
agentes federales que iniciaron redadas y
no se identificaron apropiadamente para
entrar a casas y para detener a personas
a quienes no buscaban inicialmente. Los
agentes, que pertenecían a la Agencia de
Inmigración y Aduanas (ICE) y se identificaron simplemente como “policías”.
Fueron arrestadas casi 1,000 personas.
“Con mucha dificultad un inmigrante
reportaría un crimen en su ciudad sin
primero temer un arresto o una
deportación. Acciones como esta, en vez de
llevar la paz a la comunidad terminan siendo una amenaza a la propia comunidad”
dijo Joe García, vicepresidente de la Nueva
Red Demócrata, con sede en Washington.
“El trabajo primordial de la policía es proteger a la comunidad no asustarla”, añadió
el activista cubanoamericano.
Según la portavoz de californiana de
ICE, Virginia Tice, la entidad ha llevado a
cabo acciones como la “Operación
Regreso al Remitente”, que hasta hoy
deportó a casi 25,000 indocumentados.
Pero el nombre mismo de la
operación policial refleja un sentimiento
de hostil hacia el inmigrante, dijo León.
“Comprar un ser humano con un paquete de correo que necesita ser devuelto a
su lugar de origen, es ofensivo”.
“Usualmente yo soy bien casual, pero también utilizo mis trajes y sombreros”, dijo
Laramie Triveño, investigadora académica de
la Universidad de Stanford, California.
Varios vistieron de acuerdo con su lugar de
procedencia o su cultura. Por ejemplo, muchos
del Medio Oeste americano trajeron sus botas
de vaquero.
En abundancia estuvieron los que se
echaron encimas sus telas más casuales, complementadas con sandalias.
“Uso ropa comoda, pero como hoy es la
actividad de Arnold Schwarzenegger voy a
usar un gabán”, dijo Alfredo Flores, comunicador del Departamento Agricultura federal.
Algunos convencionistas quieren ser bien
“visuales”.
“Yo trato de proyectar un mensaje bien
visual al vestir”, dijo Renita Coleman, profesora
de la Universidad de Texas, en Austin. “Busco
vestir mejor que los estudiantes… bien llamativo para captar su atención”.
Un buen ciudadano decidio venir a San José
vestido al tono del clima. “Me veo fabuloso. Al
compas con el clima perfecto. Me siento bien en
pantalones cortos y en colores brillantes”,
comentó Brandon A. Benavides, de Minesota.
En tono más serio y elegante, unos se
tiraron encima ropajes para ocasión formal.
Durante el proceso de registro de los participantes de la convención, se pudo ver comunicadores con gabán y corbata y mucho “blazer”.
“No tengo mucha experiencia en asistir a
convenciones, por lo cual visto siempre de
manera camisa y pantalón formal. A veces es
duro... pero trae recompensa”, afirmó
Alejandro Dominguez, graduado de la
Universidad de Texas, El Paso. Escribe ahora
para el periódico La Raza, en Seattle,
Washington.
Vestir como estrella de cine es otra opción,
es decir de manera síncretica en lo cultural.
“Trato de combinar lo contemporaneo con mi
cultura”, indicó Roberto Enriquez, actor de la
película “Hungry Woman” que estrena
durante las convención NAHJ.
Vino vestido con botas de pico de avestruz,
mahones y camiseta con estampado de un televisor plasma.
EL REPORTERO LATINO • www.NAHJdigital.org
La represión es igual
Viene de la página 1 .
Adriana Arvizo
El Reportero Latino
AÑO tras año el gobierno de
Estados Unidos le proporciona
visas a los estudiantes que deciden
continuar sus estudios universitarios en este país.
¿Qué sucede con estos estudiantes al termino de su carrera?
Una vez aceptado en la universidad el estudiante recibe del consulado americano los permisos
correspondientes como la I-20 y la
F-1 que son los documentos que
identifican su legalidad en el país.
Al igual que los demás estudiantes
-ciudadanos o residentes- acuden
a sus clases y cumplen exactamente con los mismos deberes,
aprendiendo el idioma y contribuyendo a la comunidad universitaria.
Concluida sus carreras universitarias, los estudiantes internacionales tienen un año para trabajar legalmente en Estados Unidos
bajo el permiso de Prácticas y
Entrenamiento Opcional (OPT
por sus siglas en Inglés). Al año
deben solicitar para la visa TN
(canadienses y mexicanos) o H1B
(empleados temporales).
Si no la obtienen deben abandonar el país, debido a que existe
una cantidad especifica de expedición de visas para profesionales.
Son muchos los estudiantes que
no consiguen el permiso de inmigración.
Samuel González, estudiante
de Ingeniería Mecánica, mexicano
y ex–presidente de la Sociedad de
Alumnos de la Universidad de
Texas, en El Paso (UTEP), opinó
que se deberian de expedir más
visas para profesionales graduados. “Si ya nos dieron la oportunidad de estudiar aquí, por que no
nos dan la oportunidad de
demostrarles que podemos hacer
mucho por la comunidad”, opinó
González. “El ser estudiante bilingüe y bicultural te cotiza más en
el mercado laboral”, finalizó.
Helen Stevens, directora de la
Oficina de Servicios y Programas
Internacionales en San José State
University (SJSU), dijo que siente
pena por aquellos estudiantes que
desean quedarse y no pueden.
Agregó que el 7 por ciento de los
estudiantes de la SJSU son internacionales.
“Dos veces al año recibimos a
un abogado en el campus para
tratar el tema de las opciones que
tienen los estudiantes internacionales después de graduarse”,
dijo Stevens.
Mientras, el abogado Gabriel
Jack, especialista en casos de
inmigración en San José, afirmó
que para este año sólo se expidieron 65,000 visas de trabajo que
se acabaron en 2 días. Según Jack,
la visa de trabajo cuesta entre
$1,500 y $2,150 dependiendo del
lugar donde vaya a trabajar.
“No tiene sentido que el gobierno de Estados Unidos permita que
los egresados de sus universidades vuelvan a su país de origen
a producir dinero para este, en vez
de hacerlo para el que los educó
profesionalmente”, opinó Jack.
Para más información acerca
de las visas de trabajo visitar
www.uscis.gov .
CONVENCIÓN NAHJ• SAN JOSÉ 2007
Visado complica a colegiales
3
EL REPORTERO LATINO • www.NAHJdigital.org
CONVENCIÓN NAHJ• SAN JOSÉ 2007
2
INDICE
CARRERAS ESCASAS A
NIVEL UNIVERSITARIO
La noticia multidimensional
PÁGINA 2
América Arias
LA REPRESIÓN ES
UNIVERSAL
PÁGINA 3
MÚSICA ALTERNATIVA
PÁGINA 6
STAFF 2007
REPORTEROS Y
FOTÓGRAFOS
Adriana Arvizo / University of
Texas - El Paso
[email protected]
América Arias / California
State University, Fullerton
[email protected]
Ana Cubías / California State
University, Northridge
[email protected]
Gustavo Martínez / University
of Texas - El Paso
[email protected]
Héctor Rosa Figueroa /
Universidad del Sagrado
Corazón, Puerto Rico
[email protected]
Lourdes Solórzano /
Universidad de Puerto Rico
[email protected]
María del Mar Cintrón /
Universidad de Puerto Rico
[email protected]
Mariana Muñiz Lara /
Universidad de Puerto Rico
[email protected]
Martha Flores / University of
Washington
[email protected]
Marvelia Alpízar / St. Mary of
the Woods University
[email protected]
Melissa Zayas / Universidad del
Sagrado Corazón, Puerto Rico
[email protected]
Mónica Radrigan / San
Francisco State University
[email protected]
Zoe González / Universidad del
Sagrado Corazón, Puerto Rico
[email protected]
MENTORES
Rafael Matos
Marvin Fonseca
Rui Ferreira
Mariángela Linera
El Reportero Latino
LA INCORPORACIÓN de textos, vídeo,
audio, fotografías y gráficas interactivas
para contar historias es ya la rutina informativa en los principales medios noticiosos.
El taller titulado “Hands-on Multimedia
Storytelling: There’s more Than One Way
to Tell a Story”, instruyó a periodistas en
un método de combinar medios múltiples
para mejorar la manera de contar historias
en medios de televisión o de Internet.
El coordinador Robert Hernández y el
orador del taller André Jones, mostraron
toda la gama de nuevas posibilidades multimedios.
Hernández, el coordinador y gerente
producción del The Seattle Times, dijo que
es ya imperativo que el periodista aprenda
a contar historias en distintas dimensiones.
“Una de las oportunidades más grandes
del periodismo multimedios es la habilidad
de hacer diferentes opciones de diseño.
Sitios de Internet de radio ya están complementando su audio con fotos y texto”,
explicó Hernández.
Dijo, que a su vez, sitios de periódico
están representando vídeo y audio en combinación con texto, y estaciones de televisión están suplementando sus piezas de
vídeo con historias de texto.
La norma cada vez más es tratar de producir paquetes de información que
aprovechan varios formatos de medios.
Jones, dueño de J&J Image Group en
Atlanta, opinó que en un futuro muy cercano la televisión desaparecerá y la computadora la reemplazará.
La nueva dinámica es que el público
tiene ansias de participar en el contenido de
los medios y ejercer el derecho de decidir lo
que quieren leer, escuchar, mirar o usar.
A pesar de estos cambios, Hernández
FOTO / MARIANA MUNÍZ
La integración de las cámaras de video a los medios de comunicación es una de
las formas de darle a la noticia un nuevo ángulo visual.
asegura los fundamentos del periodismo
siguen siendo la base del trabajo.
“La manera de dar información sigue
siendo igual, pero la manera en que se
cuentan está cambiando”, Hernández aseguró.
Participan hispanos en carreras de medios
Por Marvelia Alpizar
El Reportero Latino
ACTUALMENTE, la representación de estudiantes latinos a
nivel universitario en Estados
Unidos es poco en comparación
con la población de otros grupos
étnicos.
De igual forma, esta baja tendencia se observa en la carrera
de periodismo, la cual no ha
tenido una amplia aceptación
entre los estudiantes hispanos
como carrera universitaria.
Un ejemplo de ello podría
verse en el estado de California,
donde la población de hispano
hablantes, tanto de segunda
como tercera generación suma
más del 50%, de los cuales la
mayoría no tienen interés por la
carrera de periodismo.
Según William Briggs, director de la Escuela de Periodismo y
Medios de Comunicación de la
Universidad Estatal de San José,
una de las razones por las cuales
estudiantes pertenecientes a
grupos minoritarios no ven el
periodismo como una carrera
importante, se debe a la escasez
de información sobre hispanos
en los medios de comunicación
dominantes de Estados Unidos.
“[Los medios anglosajones] no
llevan a cabo un buen trabajo en la
cobertura o representación de los
grupos étnicos”, dijo Briggs.
Mientras, Maritza Mota, estudiante de periodismo en la
Universidad St. Mary of the
Woods, en Indiana, comentó que
“el crecimiento de la población
latina esta cambiando la política y
la sociedad de los Estados Unidos.
Como periodistas latinos, tenemos que conocer nuestro papel
para poder informar y cubrir noticias, no sólo de este país sino a lo
William Briggs director de la
Escuela de Periodismo y
Medios de Comunicación de
la Universidad de San José.
largo de América Latina”.
Los ideales que motivan a
aquellos que escogen convertirse
en periodistas está basado en su
herencia y su papel dentro de la
sociedad, ya sea la anglosajona o
su grupo minoritario.
En la actualidad, las universidades ofrecen diversos programas con la finalidad de atraer
más estudiantes, sin importar su
grupo étnico. Unos de esos programas es el de la carrera de
periodismo a través del “WED
Program” de la Universidad St.
Mary of the Woods, en Indiana.
Hay otros programas que permiten la obtención de títulos universitarios mediante el sistema
de estudios a distancia.
Otro programa de periodismo
que atrae estudiantes latinos es la
especialización secundaria sobre
periodismo en español que ofrece
CAL State en Northridge.
El Reportero Latino
EL PERIÓDICO OFICIAL DE LA CONVENCIÓN DE NAHJ | JUEVES, JUNIO 14, 2007
Por
dentro:
MULTIMEDIA: DOMINANTE EN
LA NAHJ | PÁGINA 2
TEATRO HISPANO BUSCA MAYOR
IMPACTO | PÁGINA 6
www.NAHJdigital.org | 2007 | San José
RECLUTADORES AFINAN EL OJO
PARA EL TALENTO | PÁGINA 7
Ley migratoria alza
muralla legal
Por Mariana Muñiz Lara
El Reportero Latino
LA NUEVA vida que están
intentando construir 12 millones de inmigrantes ilegales
que viven en Estados Unidos se
podría derrumbar con el anunciado golpe legislativo contra la
nueva política de inmigración,
cuya discusión está estancada
en el Senado federal.
“A los que ya estamos aquí y
no tenemos antecedentes criminales, a los que vinimos a trabajar nos deben ayudar flexibilizando las normas, no haciéndonos regresar. Una vez que te
vayas, no te van a dejar
volver…”, opinó Paula Barrón
Gómez, natural de Guanajuato
que llegó a California hace un
año, tras caminar, junto a su
esposo, durante tres días por
el desierto. Ambos dejaron en
México un hijo de cuatro años.
La mexicana de 26 años, le
envía $300 a su familia cada
mes.
Organizaciones que apoyan
a los inmigrantes señalan que
los requisitos que exige la
política esbozada son demasiado onerosos, y provocarían
un aumento en el tráfico ilegal. Mientras, los grupos antiinmigrantes se oponen a ésta,
porque consideran que busca
otorgar una amnistía.
La
Federation
for
American
Immigration
Reform, en su página de
Internet
www.fairus.org,
FOTO / CONOR SÁNCHEZ
Simón Pérez y Miguel Cruz forman parte de los inmigrantes
que trabajan en la finca Watsondille de California para
poder sustentar a sus familias.
señala: “La vida del inmi- por empleos con los trabagrante se torna dificil al jadores menos preparados y,
drenar los fondos públicos, de esta forma, aminora los
crear competencia injusta salarios y condiciones de tra-
bajo”.
Barrón Gómez, quien trabaja a tiempo completo en una
taquería de San José, piensa
que “juntar $5,000 para una
multa es difícil cuando a uno le
quedan apenas $400 después
de pagar la “renta y los billes’”.
Asimismo, un estudio del
Center for Immigration Studies,
publicado
en
el
portal
www.cis.org, encontró que la
diferencia entre los impuestos
pagados por los inmigrantes y
los costos de los servicios que el
Estado les brinda representa un
déficit fiscal anual de $10 billones para el país. De concederse una amnistía a los ilegales,
esta cifra aumentaría a $29 billones.
Rubén Flores Calderón, un
mexicano de 27 años, oriundo de
Veracruz, y quien llegó ilegalmente a California hace tres
años, dijo que “arriesgar la vida
de uno para esto no vale la
pena”. Añadió que, cada año,
paga los impuestos debidos y
que nunca ha recibido un servicio del Estado.
La
reforma
propuesta
impone una multa de $5,000 a
las personas indocumentadas
que buscan legalizarse, requiere
que los trabajadores regresen a
sus países y permanezcan un
año por cada dos años que hayan
trabajado en Estados Unidos.
El National Immigration
Forum estima que llegan a
Estados Unidos 300,000 a
500,000 indocumentados por año.
Comodidad
versus elegancia
Por Melissa Zayas Moreno
El Reportero Latino
UNOS vinieron de playeros. Otros a lo Quinta Avenida.
La 25 edición de la convención NAHJ atrajo todo
un desfile de modas que van
desde lo cómodo y lo práctico hasto lo más ejecutivo.
continúa en la página 3.
FOTO / MELISSA ZAYAS
Laramie Triveño, luce
galas de puro color al
estilo típico de su país.
Otros temas para la
Convención de hoy
PERIODISMO
CIBERNÉTICO/
San José
Convention Center, Salón B3,
de 2:00- 3:30 p.m.
TRABAJO EN EQUIPO:
REPORTERO-FOTÓGRAFO
San José Convention Center,
Salón B2 / de 3:45- 5:15 p.m.
BUSCA EL HUMOR DE LA
CONVENCIÓN:
http://NAHJCHISME.blogspot.com
˜
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