Of the 380 guests and commentators that participated in ABC This Week, CBS Face the Nation, FOX News Sunday, and NBC Meet the Press from March to November of 2011, only 12 were Hispanic. That’s the findings of the Art of Politics Impact Project, which collects data on the gender, race and ethnicity of the Sunday talk shows on the four major networks.
In its report, “Decision 2012: Latinos missing in Action on Sunday Morning Network Talk Shows,” the researchers conclude “today’s political pundits are nearly identical to the ones that sat on the same chairs 40 years ago. The hosts, guests, journalists and commentators are primarily male and white. Women and people of color are underrepresented and there is a glaring absence of Hispanic contributors.”
The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund estimates that more than 12 million Latinos will vote in 2012. Hispanic voter turnout was 9.7 million in 2008, but NALEO officials project the increase this year based on an estimated 50,000 Latinos turning 18 each month.
With such a high number of potential Latino voters, the project is advocating for greater representation of Hispanic and Hispanic issues in news and public affairs programming.
The Art of Politics is an initiative launched by the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, the National Council of La Raza, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, The LIBRE Initiative and Being Latino.