Hispanic Journos Prez Says News Coverage of Guatemalan Disaster 'Shameful'

By: E&P Staff U.S. newspapers should be ashamed of the paltry coverage they have given the destruction wreaked on Guatemala by Hurricane Stan, says the president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Veronica Villafa?e.

"According to the vice president of Guatemala, the catastrophe has affected 3.5 million people," Villafa?e said in a press release. "Yet there's hardly any coverage. It's shameful."

Guatemala was the Latin American country hit hardest by the hurricane, which left possibly thousands dead. When Guatemalan authorities called off the search for bodies in the mudslides that caused the most destruction, they put the official death toll at 652, and estimated total deaths at 1,500.

According to NAHJ, a search of 22 ?major? daily newspapers from Oct. 7-10 using the Lexis-Nexis database found that a total of 10 stories ran about the tragedy and only one newspaper, the Washington Post, put a story about the disaster on its front page.

The network evening news devoted a total of four stories to the Guatemalan mudslides from Oct.7-9, although three were mere mentions of fewer than 50 words, NAHJ said.

"The loss of life due to catastrophic events is a tragedy no matter where it takes place," Villafa?e said. "It usually prompts news coverage and immediate help, as was the case after the tsunami hit Southeast Asia, after hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, and just this past weekend, after an earthquake leveled parts of Pakistan. But what seems appalling is that the destruction of Hurricane Stan in Central America has been virtually ignored by the U.S. media."

Villafa?e is a "convergence journalist" for the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News, working as TV anchor and producer, reporting live for the NBC-11 nightly newscast, and several times a week on Telemundo 48.

She said U.S. news organizations have historically failed to cover issues affecting Latin America.

"It's about time that U.S. media outlets -- whether print, television or radio -- truly start producing world news coverage," said Villafa?e. "As it stands today, it seems that the 'world' is only the Middle East. There's a bigger world out there.?