NAHJ 2003 Network Brownout Report

Trends
Charts 7 represents the most significant
historical trends revealed by the longitudinal plotting
of the quantitative data. When compared with last
year’s data, there is an across the line increase in the
Latino under-representation of Latinos in network
news is well documented. Latinos continue to be
portrayed as a dysfunctional underclass that exists on
the fringes of mainstream U.S. society.
In an attempt to monitor these portrayals, the
Network Brownout report now includes an in-depth
examination of the network’s representation of
Latinos in their newscasts. This critique relies on the
examination of 64 stories about Latinos that
appeared on the networks in 2002. This represents
more than half of all Latino stories that aired and a
substantial increase in our sample from previous
reports. The stories are examined to assess
commonalities, subject and theme development and
number of stories covered by the networks. These
numbers, however, seem to be somewhat lower than
the general trends presented during the first four
years of the study.
Chart 7
Latino Stories: Longitudinal Trends, Number of Stories Covered by the Networks
Critical Reading of Television News
how images are constructed. Once again, these
stories depict Latinos in both a stereotypical and
biased manner that widely diverges from the rich and
diverse roles that Latinos play in U.S. life and society.
Crime
Latinos make up 13 percent of the U.S. population.
In comparison, 12 percent of all criminals or
victims of crime are Latinos. As the report has
indicated, the 47 Latino-related stories about crime
were widely exaggerated within the universe of
all Latino-related stories aired by the networks. The
stories portrayed Latinos as kidnappers, plane
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