A project from 4thEstate.net found that less than 1% — .9% — of front page print articles covering the 2012 presidential election were written by Latinos. Asian and African American reporters were represented in slightly higher numbers, but a whopping 93% of the stories were written by whites (Updated). And, we’d venture to say, the majority of those were written by men.
According to the project:
The most striking under-representation of minorities in our data is that of Hispanic journalists, considering the Hispanic population stands at approximately 16.3% of the U.S. population (according to the 2010 Census). At six point one percent (6.1%), The Miami Herald has the highest percentage of front page stories written by Hispanics.
As former journalists, this is part of the reason we founded Más Wired, because we know how the mainstream media works from the inside. Why do you never hear of Latinos in tech? Why do you only ever hear about Latinos in relation to crime or immigration?
This infographic goes a long way in explaining this phenomenon:
Sara Inés Calderón is a journalist and writer who lives between Texas and California. Follow her on Twitter @SaraChicaD.
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