The Colorado Latino Forum (CLF) today announced two new collaborative initiatives with major local media to change the media’s negative image of Hispanics and to tell stories of interest in their lives.
“CFL supports these initiatives to expand the participation of Latinos by telling our stories and to making those stories that interest us covered,” said Lisa Calderón, co-chair of the CLF, in prepared statements sent to Efe.
According to Calderón, the project came in response to “insensitive portraits” by a local journalist about Jessica Hernandez, a 17-year-old woman shot dead by police in a car in Denver in January 2015.
Because the journalist in question belongs to 9News KUSA (Local Channel 9), the leaders of CLF and 9News reached an agreement to create an advisory committee that would allow the two organizations to “work collaboratively to find solutions.”
“The committee’s goal is to increase the representation of Latinos at all levels of industry, to propose culturally appropriate training initiatives for staff, to identify a group of Latino youth aspiring to journalism, and to increase community involvement efforts,” Information provided.
The new committee is one of the results of a training program conducted last August by the CLF to a “group of community representatives” to establish direct contacts between Denver’s Latino leadership and local authorities as a way to improve relationships With the Hispanic community.
These attempts at dialogue with the authorities were cut short in late June when Denver’s chief constable refused to attend a meeting.
In its initiative, CLF will also collaborate with The Colorado Independent, an online publication produced by a nonprofit organization composed mostly of journalists and longtime columnists in Colorado.
The new collaboration will officially begin this Friday evening at a community event where CLF leaders will thank The Colorado Independent “for consistently covering the stories that concern CLF members” such as immigration, criminal justice reform, Racial and economic disparities, and access to affordable housing.
According to the information provided, collaboration with the media is part of the CLF’s mission to “increase the political, social, educational and economic strength of Latinos in Colorado.
Currently, 1,1 million Hispanics live in Colorado, which means 21 percent of the state’s population, according to the Census Bureau.
