2005 Annual Report - Ethnic Media Newsroom Investment

Again, information for these areas is scarce, though growing.

In 2004 Professor Federico Subervi, a media consultant who lives in Austin, Texas, released a survey of news professionals at Spanish-language outlets. The data contain some interesting nuggets of information, but cannot be compared longitudinally over time.

For most of the ethnic press, ownership is not a complicated matter. Shares are not traded on the Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange. A person or a group of people or a family decides their community needs to be served by a news outlet and a "media organization" is born. Operations are often hand-to-mouth, and advertising revenues are usually generated by a handful of local businesses, many of which are owned by members of the local ethnic community.

But now some of the larger ethnic groups - again, particularly Spanish-speakers but also some Asians - are finding that larger-scale advertisers are interested in reaching their communities. At the same time, some large owners have waded pretty deeply into the pool of the ethnic media. NBC's purchase of the Hispanic network Telemundo and Tribune's launch of its "Hoy" dailies are prime examples.

As we reported last year, two primary models of ownership exist: one in which English-language companies buy into or create ethnic outlets and another in which ethnic outlets try to join together to compete with English-language giants. There is not yet a winner between those two approaches, nor do we expect one anytime soon. They could simply survive as alternative practices. But the last year has presented some new wrinkles in the game.

Newsroom Investment

The survey data from Professor Subervi also revealed that those surveyed, 400 newsroom professionals working at Spanish-language and other Latino-oriented news media, came mostly from the print (56%) and broadcast media (39%) with the rest coming from a variety of other kinds of outlets.¹

Some additional findings:

• Most of the journalists came from small news operations, 67% from newsrooms with less than ten journalists and 85% from newsrooms with five or fewer managers.²

• Almost 75% of the journalists and 50% of the managers who responded work for media that are not owned by U.S. Latinos.³

• More than 70% of the journalists who responded said their company does not offer any training programs.⁴

The survey also indicated that those who work in the Spanish-language media are relative newcomers to the U.S. More than 90% of the journalists who responded were born in another country, as were 90% of the managers. Still, the respondents were well rooted in the U.S.; 56% were U.S. citizens and 24% were permanent residents.⁵

Citizenship of Spanish-language News Professionals

Design Your Own Chart

Source: National Association of Hispanic Journalists survey of news professionals

The survey also found that all the respondents had received "some type of education or training in journalism," with half receiving journalism education in the U.S. And most respondents had attended at least two years of college.

When it came to pay and working situations, however, the study found that many of the respondents were working in less than an ideal situation. Even among those who were employed full-time, nearly a third were working without a contract. And 5% of journalists and 3% of managers were working under an "informal agreement." Incomes were spread over wide range, but with many clumped in the middle, $25,000 to $49,999. That income range accounted for the majority of respondents - male and female, journalist and manager - for all groups except male newsroom managers.

Income of Spanish-Language News Professionals

By gender and job description

Design Your Own Chart

Source: National Association of Hispanic Journalists survey of news professionals

The survey also found, perhaps not surprisingly, that TV still had the best-paying jobs in the Spanish-language media. Higher incomes were reported most frequently among those journalists who were born in the U.S., were citizens, had contracts and worked in TV newsrooms where news was produced daily.