FH Hispania Plaza

A Q&A with Reporter Danny Morales

I recently sat down with NBC-Telemundo reporter Danny Morales to talk about his first reporting job, as well as some advice for journalism students looking to get into the field in this difficult media environment.
The following is a brief Q&A with Danny Morales. 

Hispanic Media Feeling the Economic Pinch

So far, 2009 has displayed a split personality.  On one hand, the entire nation is filled with hope about the changes a new Administration will bring.  On the other hand, dismal business news and record-breaking layoffs are wreaking havoc on our collective psyche, changing the way companies do business and ordinary Americans live their daily lives.  We are spending less, saving more and putting major purchases on hold.

For Hispanics, the economic downturn has been particularly brutal.  Whereas nationwide unemployment was at 7.6 percent in December, it was 9.2 percent for Hispanics.  These job losses have hit many sectors hard, including Hispanic media, a space we watch very closely.  Among the most notable casualties:

• Casa y Hogar, a home and lifestyle magazine temporarily halted production earlier this month as it finalizes a new direction
• Hoy NYC shuttered its doors in December, although it continues to publish online content
• SI Latino also folded, with the December/January issue of this Sports Illustrated publication being its last
• Imagen Florida, a local version of the Puerto Rican women’s magazine, stopped publishing in November
• Telemundo trimmed its nationwide staff by 5 percent in October, including top national on-air talent

Although much like the year we’ve been having, the Hispanic media landscape also is filled with promise and hope.  New outlets and deals on the table include the upcoming launch in May of Abasto magazine aimed at Hispanic food entrepreneurs, the launch of Boxeo Mundial magazine and Web site last November and the collaborative deal announced in December by the Southern California newspapers Enlace, La Prensa and Excelsior to pool their resources and collectively fight the economic downturn as the newly-formed newspaper group SoCal Uno.  Our fingers are crossed for all.

Conversations on Change: Mundo Hispanico Publisher Talks Obama

Atlanta is one of the top Hispanic markets in the country and one of the fastest growing. In 1990, Hispanics constituted less than 2% of the DMA's population.  In 2008, they made up 10% or 650,000 people.   Our FH Atlanta colleague, Ana Toro, had a good conversation with the publisher of Mundo Hispanico about what the new presidency can bring about for Hispanics.  Read on for the Q&A with Anibal Torres. 

Anibal Torres was named Publisher of MundoHispánico, the Spanish-language newspaper published by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in June 2007. MundoHispánico is Georgia’s largest Spanish-language publication and the leading print and online information source for Hispanics in Georgia. Previously, he was Vice President and General Manager of the New York edition of Hoy, a daily Spanish-language newspaper published by the Tribune Company since bought by Impremedia. He joined Hoy from the Orlando Sentinel, where he served from 2003 to 2005 as Publisher of El Sentinel, a Spanish-language weekly. During those years, he also led elSentinel.com, the newspaper's companion website, and was a director at the Orlando Sentinel.

History was made this week when Obama took the White House.  How is this significant for Hispanics in the U.S.?
The fact that a minority, an African-American , was elected president is a testament of how we have matured as a nation and also of the greatness of our country.
The dream to reach our potential has been unlocked and this is true for all ethnic groups, including our own Hispanic community.  But the lesson is not only that our country offers endless opportunities, but that to take advantage of them we need to make sure education is a priority at a time when Hispanics have a higher than acceptable drop out rate.  I am sure this election will encourage more Hispanics to  get engaged in public service.

How did you approach the story for your readers?
At MundoHispanico both in print and on-line we covered the priorities of his administration, a summary of his speech and local reaction to the inauguration via interviews, photos and video.  We have written extensively about President Obama and expectations from a local perspective.  And before the election, we also covered the different campaign positions of both candidates.  Many of our readers are first-time voters, so education on the US political process was also important in our coverage. 
  
What do you think about the role of Hispanic media in covering  the inauguration ?  What, if anything, was missing?
In most cases Hispanic media mirrored what non-Hispanic media did in TV, print and on-line. 
 
What are the main areas that you think President Obama should  focus on for the Latino community?
Just like the rest of the nation,  Hispanics are concerned  about the economy, job creation, education, healthcare and national security.  However, it was clear by the overwhelming support of Hispanic voters for Obama that comprehensive immigration reform is a top priority and must be dealt with soon. 
 
How prominent do you think immigration issues will be for the new administration?
It has to be top of the list.  President Obama promised during the campaign to work towards immigration reform so that we can restore some sanity to a broken immigration policy. Families are being separated, people are living in fear, local and state authorities are legislating  a myriad of anti immigrant laws that impact our communities. These local laws (as we have seen in Georgia) subject our Hispanic community to profiling and do not reflect the values of our country.  This is the responsibility of the Federal Government.  And once the economy gets back on track, legalizing the status of these immigrants will result in a consumer boom for categories that have been recently depressed such as auto, real estate, home improvement.  So it also makes economic sense.

How can Hispanic communities in the U.S. help out in President Obama’s “call to action” to do something to help out America?
We can do plenty.  In education the dropout rate among Hispanics is high, so becoming a mentor is one way to serve.  Successful Hispanics must act as role models.  Volunteering in civic organizations or church groups to improve the quality of life in our own communities.  These organizations such as the Latin American Association here in Atlanta are always looking for volunteers for the services they provide.  On the business side organizations like the Hispanic Chamber are also opportunities to serve.  Decide what you are good at and share your knowledge, experiences.  That was the message of the President, that government nor he can do it alone. That it is our responsibility to work together and get the nation back on track.   
 
Do you believe we might see a Hispanic president in a near future?
We already have a talented pool of  elected officials serving our cities, counties and states, but I am also sure there is a Rodriguez, Martinez, Torres, Lopez, etc., somewhere in some corner of our nation, in an elementary, high school or university that is getting prepared to go into public service and one day take the oath of President.

Televisa and Univision Battle it Out in Court

Opening arguments for the Univision-Televisa trial started Tuesday. The outcome could drastically change Spanish TV for U.S. Latinos, and bring a reshuffle of programming and network dominance. For more on this, click on today’s L.A. Times story, Curtain rises on Televisa-Univision trial.

 

Hispanic Media Reports on Election Night

After nearly two years of campaigning, the U.S. has a new president and his name is Barack Obama.  Last night as media reported on the news, the Hispanic electorate was often mentioned, and Obama’s capture of nearly two-thirds of the Hispanic vote was heralded as one of the election’s many historic firsts.

Today we reprise the way Hispanic media reported on the news with field reports from FH Hispania team members in major markets across the U.S.

It is also important to note that most Spanish-language news outlets also heavily reported on the tragic death in Mexico City yesterday of Mexico’s Interior Minister, Juan Camilo Mouriño, which was announced as the polls were closing.

Atlanta

Mundo Hispánico, the leading Hispanic paper in the state, highlighted President-elect Obama’s win as “Barack Obama, a New Era Begins.”  It also featured facts about Latinos and Election Day. 

 

Obama's Last Stretch*

Tomorrow is not only Election Day, but the night of the big Obama rally here in Chicago.  His campaign has arranged for a huge election watch party in Grant Park, and while 65,000 people hold tickets, the Mayor estimates up to a million people will attend to see Obama either win or lose the big race.

Because Obama lives in Chicago and will be putting the city on the international stage, the rally is big news here and Obamamania is at fever pitch.

Another city enamored by the senator from Illinois is the city of Obama, Japan, of which some residents have shot their own music video to show their support for the candidate.

In the spirit of this really fun, Japenese music – and I guess even politics – knows-no-language-barriers video, I decided to do a quick online scan to see if members of the Latino community are expressing their support for Obama in creative ways … and we most certainly are.**

Olympic Dreams

The 2008 Olympics in Beijing have been a source of pride for the nation and proven to be a historic showing for some of the best athletes to recently don USA uniforms. Securing their place in history are one Michael Phelps-- the most decorated Olympian to date -- and the men's swimming team he represents.  And then there's the story of the women's rowing team first gold since 1984, and not to forget the women's gymnastics team gold for Shawn Johnson and teammate Nastia Liukin securing silver, both on the beam event which is a first for the nation. 

But one singular story caught the attention of Wednesday's El Nuevo Herald after the gold won a cover story for Henry Cejudo, the US wrestling champ born to undocumented Mexican immigrants.  Cejudo proudly pronounced his medal to belong "half to Mexico and half to the US", due to the strong affinity to his family's culture and roots.  Cejudo is from Los Angeles, the nation's #1 Hispanic market.  His story has been picked up by many publications and Google shows more than 400 results to his name.  His rise to fame and the medal did not come easy.  Raised as one of four siblings, his family struggled to make ends meet and moved around quite a bit as he was growing up.  The 21-year old now has secured his name and family's history in the books. 

Along Cejudo, other U.S. Hispanics also are representing the US at the games.  Dara Torres' stellar performance as the oldest swimmer to score a medal, the taekwondo team includes the Los Lopez siblings-- 3 brothers and a sister with roots in Nicaragua that made history as the first sibling team to compete since the early 1900s and Stephen Lopez is a contender for gold.  Then there's Michael Orozco is soccer, distance runners Leonel Manzano and Jorge Torres, many in the boxing team, and others I may not have been able to identify.

But news reports say that there are not enough Hispanics in the US team, in all about 4% of the 600 member team based on a AP estimate.  And while that may be true, kudos to the ones who earned a spot and Cejudo-- enjoy your medal for many years to come! 

A Latino E-Virus

Nothing says that Hispanics are online in full force more than an email virus directed solely at them (and in Spanish).  An item from People en Espanol reports that people have been getting viruses in emails that 'deliver' fatal news about the deaths of Luis Miguel, Shakira and/or Alejandro Fernandez.  The emails appear to come from Televisa or CNN and are in fact vicious viruses.  There is a lot of competing data about Hispanics online and their preferred language for navigation, but we know at least 33% prefer Spanish and market moves such as Impremedia gambling on Impre.com, Univision.com's dominance and million of users, and even People en Espanol's site all attest to the fact that the universe is large (also loyal judging for the growing 'foros' section on Univision.com).  Of course, email is also heavily used among the group since it is a good way to stay connected long-distance. And while I have found no data to prove it, the incidence of hitting 'forward' seems to also be high, based on personal observations, so knowing about this virus can help prevent a further spread.  Keeping in mind that the web has no geographical boundaries and the popularity of these artists beyond the U.S., there is no telling how many people could be taken by these false emails.

This Week in las Noticias

Impremedia Announces Free Mobile News Alerts (Portada) – Spanish-language newspaper publisher Impremedia has just announced a mobile distribution strategy that will likely be adopted my many other Spanish-language newspapers nationwide, as they struggle to keep pace with an increasingly Internet-prone audience, and become more relevant in the digital age.

Careful word play targets Hispanics (The Brownsville Herald) – The Rio Grande Valley has become a testing ground for this brand of marketing, and the sweep of highway between McAllen and Brownsville is the palate. Roadside signs roll out in English, Spanish and Spanglish, sometimes promoting the same product.

This Week in las Noticias

Despite Downturn, Hispanics Still Buying Big-Ticket Items (MarketingDaily) – Hispanic adults in the United States are more likely to spend money on electronic gadgets like Apple iPods, Samsung HDTV and Canon digital cameras than their non-Hispanic counterparts, even during a down economy, according to a recent study from Vertis Communications, Baltimore.

Univision Mounts Latin Music Microsite (Adweek) – Univision.com has launched the music microsite En Directo, a Web offering aimed at Latin music lovers via free streamed online concerts showcasing top recording artists, behind-the-scenes footage, photo galleries and downloads.