PBS ‘NewsHour’ Called Out for Lack of Diversity

America's publicly-funded broadcast network is in trouble.

By Jamilah King Nov 08, 2013

America’s publicly funded broadcast network is in trouble. In late October Latino journalist Ray Suarez left the network’s flagship news program "NewsHour" after serving as one of its senior correspondents for more than a decade. The longtime journalist later gave Fox News Latino the reasons for his departure.

"I felt like I didn’t have much of a future with the broadcast," Suarez told Fox. "(They) didn’t have much of a plan for me."

The National Hispanic Media Coalition has issued an open letter on what it calls the network’s "historic under-inclusion of Latinos."

"PBS’ historic under-inclusion of Latinos is reflected not only in its employment practices, with Latinos being overlooked for new projects and initiatives, but also the underrepresentation of Latinos in its programming, and an alarming lack of transparency about the situation," NHMC’s letter reads.

Among the evidence presented by the advocacy organization is not only what it sees as the network’s lack of diversity in senior leadership positions, but its lukewarm efforts to address the problem. The group says that a 2005 Ford Foundation grant to promote new diversity initiatives have led to underwhelming results.