CBS - HISPANIC GROUPS DENOUNCE CBS REPORT

Hispanic civil rights groups are denouncing a recent report by the CBS Evening News With Katie Couric in which a woman, identified as an illegal immigrant who had just given birth to a child, was "lectured" by reporter Byron Pitts, who told her that "many Americans who struggle to take care of their own families think it is unfair that they should have to take care" of non-U.S. citizens. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the National Council of La Raza and the Asian American Justice Center were among the groups protesting against the feature. Writing in the influential Politico.com, veteran Washington D.C. journalist Gebe Martinez commented, "If CBS is playing to immigration hawks to boost its sagging ratings, the network risks being tuned out by the expanding Latino community. Advertisers know that by 2011, Hispanic buying power will total $1.2 trillion, almost 10 percent of all U.S. purchasing power." Martinez quoted MALDEF attorney Peter Zamora as saying, "We are not going to be the victims of anti-immigrant reporting, and we are not going to sit by as the community is demonized." CBS News responded that it aimed "to do our best to listen to the many voices engaged in immigration issues, to produce fair and accurate stories and to bring national attention to this complicated topic."

01/05/2008