National Hispanic Media Coalition

History

The NHMC was established in Los Angeles in 1986 in an effort to increase the Latino representation in local news. At this time, KCBS-TV did not include any Latinos, despite the fact that 32 percent of the local population was estimated to be Hispanic. Today, the NHMC's headquarters is located in Pasadena, California, with a second office in Washington, D.C. The NHMC is a national organization with smaller chapters located across the nation. In 1990, it challenged the license renewals of 24 Texas radio stations.

The complaints resulted in the launching of one of the most widespread reviews of broadcast hiring practices by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC reports that the NHMC has filed over 50 petitions to deny television and radio stations licenses across the nation in instances where Hispanic Latinos were inadequately represented and FCC rules and laws were violated.

After several years of working with several organizations toward a Local Community Radio Act, the bill was successfully passed in December 2010. This was one of the biggest accomplishments for the NHMC in that it was the first time that the media reform movement had succeeded in passing a bill in Congress. A year later, in 2011, the NHMC celebrated its 25th anniversary.

The NHMC reported, in addition, the following accomplishments in 2011: fighting hate speech in media; promoting positive stories of Latinos in media; giving voice to Latinos on media policy issues in Washington, D.C.; promoting media ownership diversity; opening doors for the next generation of Latinos; empowering local communities; and recognizing talent and champions.

Issues

The NHMC continues to focus on a number of issues across the country in an effort to expand the future of the Hispanic community in the media. The Hispanic population comprises over 16 percent of the U.S. population but owns only 1.1 percent of television stations and 2 percent of radio stations. The NHMC continues to fight hate speech in the media: it defines hate speech as speech that creates a climate of hate or prejudice, which may in turn foster the commission of hate crimes.

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