Telemundo’s principal national evening newscast took note of widespread economic gains among U.S. Latinos — including unemployment below 5 percent for the fifth consecutive month - during coverage of President Trump’s big kick-off celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month at the White House.
JOSE DÍAZ-BALART, ANCHORMAN, TELEMUNDO: The President, today in the White House celebrated the start of Hispanic Heritage month. At the event he said that the economy is on a roll, assuring that Hispanic business owners are leading the upswing. He also highlighted that unemployment among Latinos is now at its lowest point.
To date, Spanish-speaking news networks have downplayed the string of consistently good economic news for the country’s Hispanic population, including rising incomes and more job opportunities than ever. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest annual income report, the median household income for U.S. households in which the householder is Hispanic hit a record high of $50,486 in 2017.
During the event held at the White House for a group of national Hispanic entrepreneurs, public officials and community leaders (contrary to what Díaz-Balart said, the President did celebrate the event last year), President Trump also thanked “the million and a half war veteran Latinos who fought for this country.”
However, Díaz-Balart managed to insert a dose of ambiguous journalism by finishing the segment saying that the President did not mention the “millions of Hispanics who live in the shadows and also contribute to the economy and serve in the army dreaming of one day being in this country legally.” In reality, the number of immigrants serving the armed forces represents approximately 3% of all active-duty personnel, far from being in the “millions.”
The late-night national evening newscast of Telemundo’s chief rival, Univision, also covered the President’s Hispanic Heritage Month celebration, as did CNN en Español. Lesser rivals Noticiero Estrella and Hechos Nacional (Azteca América), however, did not.
Below is the complete transcript of the above mentioned report as aired on Monday, September 17, 2018 in Noticias Telemundo.
JOSÉ DÍAZ-BALART, ANCHOR, TELEMUNDO NEWS: The President, today in the White House celebrated the start of Hispanic Heritage month. At the event he said that the economy is on a roll, ensuring Hispanic business owners are leading the upswing. He also highlighted that unemployment among Latinos is now at its lowest point. He also thanked the million and a half war veteran Latinos who fought for this country. However, he did not mention the millions of Hispanics who live in the shadows and also contribute to the economy and serve in the army dreaming of one day being in this country legally.
