The X factor: The struggle to get Latinos in US news stories amid a Latinx push and a changing journalism landscape

Latinos make up only 5.4 percent of the overall newsroom workforce in the United States. Over the last 15 years, US media outlets have disbanded urban affairs or minority affairs beats and teams altogether. Various studies suggest Latino and African American communities continue to be under-covered...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCultural dynamics Vol. 29; no. 3; pp. 177 - 185
Main Author Contreras, Russell
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE Publications 01.08.2017
Sage Publications Ltd
Subjects
African Americans
Empowerment
Gender identity
Hispanic Americans
Journalism
Latin American cultural groups
LGBTQ people
Mass media
Media coverage
Mexican Americans
Oppression
Sexuality
Transgender persons
Transsexuality
United States > US
Latinx
Mexican American
Latino
LGBT
journalism
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Summary:Latinos make up only 5.4 percent of the overall newsroom workforce in the United States. Over the last 15 years, US media outlets have disbanded urban affairs or minority affairs beats and teams altogether. Various studies suggest Latino and African American communities continue to be under-covered by US media outlets, further marginalizing their narratives in the US experience. And for years, US media outlets have struggled on the terms used to describe people of Spanish-speaking heritage: Hispanic, Latino, Mexican American, etc. Now, because of the political empowerment LGBT residents, there is a movement to describe Latinos using the term “LatinX” — a gender-neutral alternative to Latino and Latina. The term was an attempt to incorporate individuals who didn’t identify with a gender or who were transgender. As the US media struggles to accurately portray Latinos, the term “Latinx” faces an uphill battle for mainstream media use amid pressures for basic coverage. The author argues that “Latinx” in stories neutralized gender for the sake of inclusion and could result in ignoring the oppression around gender identity and sexuality.
ISSN:0921-3740
1461-7048
DOI:10.1177/0921374017728149