A report in the San Francisco Chronicle says that Spanish-language newscasters, despite often pulling in better ratings than their English-language counterparts, are not earning the same money because advertisers think Hispanics are all a bunch of dirty poors.

“There’s still a perception in the marketing world that most of the Spanish-speaking audience is poor and uneducated,” said Garzon, who is broadcast media director for Casanova Pendrill, which buys time on Spanish-language TV for corporate clients such as Kohl’s, L’Oreal and General Mills.

But even though we are all poory poors, we are also totally fucking brand loyal. So eff you, Cheerios! Still ad rates on Spanish-language stations tend to be 1/3 to 1/2 cheaper than English-language networks. Add to this the fact that bilingual journalists with accents can’t get work on English-language television. Basically, if you speak English like Speedy Gonzalez, even if you went to J-school, you’re no better off than the guys who wait on the corner for the trucks to take them to dig up someone’s yard for little to no pay.

While major market TV journalists aren’t holding up will-report-for-food signs, base pay for many Spanish-language TV journalists (about $70,000) can be around one-fourth less than their English-language counterparts in town. Photographers and news writers at KDTV are paid roughly a third less at top union scale than some of their English-language counterparts in the Bay Area, according to figures supplied by union officials familiar with the disparity.

Another problem, of course, is the lack of options for Spanish-language journalists. Like, if you work for Univison, who are you going to threaten your producer with to get a raise? Damn. Looks like there’s no other choice but to call Frank Labatte’s.

Spanish-language TV journalists paid less [SF Chronicle]
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