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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

National Hispanic Leadership Agenda Releases 

"2012 Hispanic Public Policy Agenda"

Document Includes Key NHMC Policy Priorities To Expand Broadband, 

Combat Hate Speech

 

Washington, D.C. - August 22, 2012 - Today, the National Hispanic Media Coalition ("NHMC") joined other leaders of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda ("NHLA") to release NHLA's "2012 Hispanic Public Policy Agenda" at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The document, which is presented to policymakers every four years, is the result of months of deliberations among Latino leaders to identify key policy goals that would advance the status of the Latino community in the United States.

 

In the document that was released today, a number of NHMC's policy recommendations that relate to promoting broadband access and adoption, combatting hate speech, and promoting media ownership diversity were included.

 

Concerning broadband, the Agenda recommends that policymakers:

  • Support modification of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Lifeline Program - which currently subsidizes low-income Americans' telephone service - to also cover broadband services.    
  • Encourage enhancement of the FCC's E-Rate Program, which currently subsidizes broadband access in schools and libraries.   
  • Promote competition in the broadband and mobile phone markets to promote lower prices.   
  • Protect consumers from predatory billing and privacy practices.

Concerning hate speech and media ownership, the Agenda recommends that policymakers support NHMC's 2009 Petition for Inquiry at the FCC among other things. Specifically, policymakers are urged to:

  • Encourage a comprehensive Federal Communications Commission (FCC) inquiry into the extent and effects of hate speech in media, and/or an update to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) 1993 report to Congress, The Role of Telecommunications in Hate Crimes.    
  • Support FCC policies to expand and promote media ownership diversity.    
  • Oppose media consolidation as a race-neutral way to open doors for diverse owners to enter the media marketplace.    
  • Ensure that the FCC is collecting thorough data on diversity of media ownership and employment and providing this data to the public in a transparent and easily-searchable format that breaks the numbers down by race and ethnicity.    
  • Increase the number of Latinos working at all levels at the FCC. Currently only 3 percent of FCC staff is Latino, and no Latinos are in leading or decision-making roles.

"The recommendations included in the Agenda are incredibly important to promoting prosperity for the Latino community. Being both a media advocacy organization and a civil rights organization, we are especially pleased with the recommendations made regarding media and telecommunications policy. We believe that these proposals will go a long way towards ensuring that all Latinos are able to be active participants in our democracy," said Jessica J. Gonzalez, NHMC's Vice President of Policy & Legal Affairs. Jessica Gonzalez is also a member of NHLA's leadership, serving as Secretary of the Board of Directors. 

 
Press Contact:
Inez Gonzalez
(213) 718-0740
igonzalez@nhmc.org
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About NHMC: 

The National Hispanic Media Coalition is a non-partisan, non-profit, media advocacy and civil rights organization established in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. Its mission is to educate and influence media corporations on the importance of including U.S. Latinos at all levels of employment; challenge media that carelessly exploit negative Latino stereotypes; and scrutinize and opine on media and telecommunications policy issues before the Federal Communications Commission and in Congress. Learn more at http://www.nhmc.org. Receive real-time updates on Facebook and twitter @NHMC.

 

About NHLA:

Established in 1991,the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) is a nonpartisan association of major Hispanic national organizations and distinguished Hispanic leaders from all over the nation. NHLA's mission calls for unity among Latinos around the country to provide the Hispanic community with greater visibility and a clearer, stronger influence over our country's affairs. NHLA brings together Hispanic leaders to establish policy priorities that address, and raise public awareness of, the major issues affecting the Latino community and the nation as a whole. NHLA is composed of 30 of the leading national and regional Hispanic civil rights and public policy organizations, other elected officials, and prominent Hispanic Americans. NHLA coalition members represent the diversity of the Latino community - Americans and immigrants of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and other Hispanic descents.