Central Florida media pros weighing in on Hispanic representation

Brigitte Snedeker is as passionate about news as she is of her Latino heritage and she shows this every day at work.

“I am the only Latina producer, and I am only one of the few Latinos in my newsroom,” said Snedeker from her current position at WESH 2 News.

She said she takes a lot of pride in her role.

“I bring a unique and important perspective to our pitch meetings and view Central Florida through a different lens. As a Latina at an English news outlet, I feel it is my responsibility to my community to help bridge the gap between news worlds.”

Snedeker, who is also giving back to her community as the financial officer of Central Florida Chapter for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), mentioned that she truly believes in their motto: “More Latinos in News.”

“The Hispanic media community should not be boxed into working at only Spanish-speaking outlets because in a lot of places we are not minorities. I want to see more bilingual journalists dive into all fields of reporting, like I do at WESH. There are newsrooms in English that are open to giving Spanish journalism a voice, and it’s up to us to help grow that,” she said.

In the “Latino in the Media/Arts” virtual panel hosted recently by UCF, Snedeker said that “with a bigger community, there has been a bigger push for coverage. There are news directors and reporters ... not that they didn’t care before, they didn’t know, and now it is something that can’t be ignored.”

Eventhoughthepercentage of Hispanics in the media has slightly improved during the past years and now stands at a 12%, it still isn’t close to the 18% of Hispanics that work in all other industries, according to the study published late September by the U.S. Government Accountability

Office. The analysis of federal data showed how underrepresented this community is in the media.

Just like Snedeker’s situation, there still are local Central Florida newsrooms where the Hispanic representation falls on only a handful of shoulders.

This is something Nancy Álvarez, WFTV News anchor and reporter has been fighting for for over a decade.

“I don’t even want to use the word minority anymore when it comes to the Hispanic community in Central Florida,” Álvarez said. “I don’t even think it applies. We talk a lot about the growth, and we talk a lot about the numbers, but I think it’s time to stop talking about all of that and really start reporting on what that truly means, on the impacts that we are having economically, politically, and in every aspect.”

Hispanic Heritage Month, observed from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 every year, often leads to discussions regarding Hispanic and Latino representation.

The UCF Global Perspectives department, together with the Puerto Rico Research Hub discussed this topic in a recent panel that included Álvarez, Snedeker, UCF Associate Professor of Studio Arts Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz and Rollins Museum of Art Curator Gisela Carbonell.

“We know that in the past 20, 30 years we have seen growth and some improvement in representation,” said UCF associate instructor and panel moderator Katie Coronado, “but we also know as industry leaders, experts, academics, that it is not enough.”

The biggest lack of representation still exists among the top managerial positions of the industry, where only 8% are held by Hispanics.