Official Statement from NAHJ President Brandon Benavides on
No Presence of Hispanic Moderators for the 2016 Election Debates:
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is disappointed the
Commission on Presidential Debates has once again failed to select a
Hispanic journalist as a moderator of the 2016 general election
presidential and vice presidential debates.
According to the U.S. Census from November 2015, “More than 55 million
people—almost one-fifth of the U.S. population—are Hispanic.” It’s
imperative to hear Hispanic voices on the national level, given the
impact of this election cycle.
This is not the first time NAHJ has addressed this issue. After no
Hispanic journalists were selected in 2012, representatives from NAHJ
insisted on a meeting with the co-chairman of the Commission on
Presidential Debates, Mike McCurry. Intensive discussions were held
during this meeting and our concerns were shared. We concluded that it
is important Latino journalists should not be left out of the
presidential debates in the coming years.
Again, it is imperative that a Hispanic moderator is present to
provide fair input on our issues and accurate representation of the
Latino communities.
We are dissatisfied no progress has been made in the past four
years and once again we have been overlooked. Despite this outcome, we
will continue to advocate and speak for our communities our
journalists cover across the country and the unique and crucial
perspective we bring to the debates & 2016 elections.