Univision's Meet the Press

Next Month Univision television Al Punto (To the Point) the new Sunday morning "newsmaker discussion program" hosted by our friend Jorge Ramos the prolific author and anchor of the network evening news program "Noticiero Univision." (I know an intelligent, well-spoken and respected expert who'd be terrific for a regular panel of discussants!)

Univision is hosting a bash to launch the show at a prime location in DC. The program itself is likely to attract presidential candidates and leading figures in Washington.

The promotional website has a nice promo video which I presumed was utilized during this year's up-front presentation in New York.

Univision is scheduled to host a historic presidential forum series. The first is with the Democratic candidates on Sunday, September 9th in Miami. The Democratic candidates participating in the forum, in alphabetical order are: Senator Joe Biden, Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Chris Dodd, Senator John Edwards, Senator Mike Gravel, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Senator Barack Obama and Governor Bill Richardson.

The Republican forum will be held Sunday, September 16. John McCain has said he will particiate, though Univision has not announced the participants yet.

Here's my analysis:

These events are historic for Univision and for the nation. They are, more than anything else, an opportunity for the Spanish-language juggernaut to flex it corporate muscles, draw more attention to its value as a political advertising destination, and of course provide the candidates with the best free connection to the nation's Hispanic voters...well at least the segment that watches Spanish-language television. There will also be a flood of mainstream media attention that will likely help the candidates' messages reach the English-dominant Hispanic voters who may be more likely to tune into English media.

Majority Minority America

It is no surprise to those of us who live in the Washington, DC region that minority community growth and migration is changing the demographic make-up of communities and entire counties here.

But it was still big news, just as it was in other places, that 1 in 10 counties are now majority minority or in other words there is no longer a single ethnic majority population in those areas. For example, for the first time, minorities are now a majority in Denver.

The U.S. Census Bureau released its latest report which captured tremendous national media attention.

The bottom line, as I see it, is that the U.S. continues to undergo dramatic demographic changes, is on track to become a majority minority nation by the middle of the century, and the movement toward that projection is being expressed more and more each year.

Click on the newspaper links below to read their coverage of the new census findings:
The Washington Post
The New York Times
Associated Press
Houston Chronicle
Dallas Morning News
Denver Post
USA Today