NGL Media, a multicultural marketing solutions company that is aimed at Latino audiences, is expanding its operations to include a full-scale production facility.
The National Hispanic Media Coalition announced this week it had created a new coalition with a few major Latino media businesses and organizations in an effort to boost Latino diversity in media and technology.
Latina entrepreneurs in California just got the opportunity to win $10,000 in financial support and mentorship for their budding business through a new contest sponsored by Square, Xoom, and the Latino Startup Alliance.
El Rey Network and its founder and chairman, filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with an exclusive video that highlights its Latino talent featured on its popular TV series, including "From Dusk Till Dawn," "Matador" and "El Rey Network Presents: The Director's Chair."
With the U.S. Latino population projected to hit 131 million by 2050, the representation of Latinos on the media has been changing notably on cable television.
"This is the best time ever for Latinos and Hispanics to try and get into this business...not try, succeed. The studios finally get it. It's finally on the front page news, it's finally on the front of Variety and The New York Times. The studios and the TV networks get it," writer/producer Roberto Orci told Latin Post during the premiere of "Matador," the second scripted TV series, which was just renewed for Season 2 on director Robert Rodriguez's English-language network, El Rey.
The varied and distinct collection of Latino sub-groups and cultures fail to be properly represented on the screen, and the highest-earning Latinos in Hollywood tend to be noticeably lighter. While darker Latinos have increased in numbers onscreen, they are almost exclusively cast in supporting roles, and often they play exclusively black characters.
Google released information about the diversity of its workforce, and the news isn't very positive. Most of the giant company's workforce is made up of white men. There is a positive side to the story though, as Google is at least acknowledging the problem with full transparency, which the National Hispanic Media Coalition says is the first step towards an "honest conversation" about the lack of diversity in tech.
The proposed takeover of Time Warner Cable (the nation's second largest cable provider) by Comcast (the first) has attracted criticism and consternation from media advocates, as well as some companies like Netflix and Charter. As of this week, you can Latino television giant Univision to the list of companies that are concerned about the merger.
We've already seen that Latinos watch more streaming digital video that the general U.S. consumer. Now, the Motion Picture Association of America's newest study on moviegoers at the theater has found that Latino oversample in that arena, too.
Hispanicize 2014 kicked off this week appropriately with a look at the state of Hispanic journalism. The session revealed the results of the first ever survey of U.S. Latino journalists and included an in depth discussion of the changing media and technology landscape, and how it affects Latinos.
Apple has said it wants to add more ethnic diversity to the little cartoon characters, called emoji, available to iPhone and Mac computer users. The characters, which are like graphically-enhanced emoticons originated from Japan and, while the graphic icons often many things from Japanese culture, there are no emoji Latinos or Black people.
Fox News Latino is one of the earliest Latino-specific brands for a mainstream media conglomerate to come into existence, and it remains one of the most steadily-growing, while other Latino brands created by mainstream media have faltered. In an effort to expand its reach and content, Fox News Latino will begin adding more videos to its offerings.
The Latino Startup Alliance and Hispanicize have just announced a contest for Latinos in tech, awarding "Latino Startup of the Year" at the Hispanicize 2014 event to whomever wins the grand prize.
CNN is shuttering its CNN Latino division, becoming the second mainstream media outlet to shutter its Latino-focused news subsidiary in as many months this year.
