Hispanic groups are accusing the major broadcast networks of discrimination in the Sunday political talk shows, arguing in a letter Monday that the programs don’t include enough Latino guests nor give enough attention to Hispanics’ issues.
Using a report by Media Matters, a press watchdog that generally defends Democratic politicians, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) said just 7 percent of guests on Sunday political talk shows were Hispanic, despite Latinos comprising 17 percent of the population in the country.
The NHLA also said the talk shows often had Hispanics on to talk chiefly about immigration, which the group said amounts to treating Latinos as “a single-issue constituency,” which the group contended was yet another sign of bias.
“Given that Hispanics are a growing population and your programs help set the tone for the public debate every week, it is increasingly important that your Sunday shows reflect our voices,” the group said. “The lack of Latino representation on these shows is unacceptable.”
Whether Hispanics are underrepresented is a matter of debate. The 7 percent representation on the shows exactly matches the percentage of Hispanics in Congress right now.
And Latino groups are often the ones arguing that most Hispanic voters are related to or close friends with at least one illegal immigrant, and treating legalization of illegal immigrants as a threshold stance, which is partly responsible for the single-issue constituency the groups are now protesting.
The NHLA said it has a list of “Latino experts from across the country” that it can provide on a number of major issues, and urged the networks to make use of it in broadening their programs.
The letter was addressed to the chiefs of Fox News, MSNBC, CBS News, ABC News, NBC News and CNN.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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