USA Today, Starbucks Hope to Defy Haters

Outlets Failed to Cover Gains in Latino Health Coverage

"Major Hispanic news outlets failed to cover a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which found that 4.2 million Hispanic Americans have gained health insurance coverage since the Affordable Care Act provisions have taken effect,"Cristina Lopez reported Friday for Media Matters for America.

"On March 16, HHS reported that 16.4 million Americans, including 4.2 million Hispanic Americans, gained health insurance coverage since 'several of the Affordable Care Act's coverage provisions took effect.'

"But major Hispanic media outlets have failed to cover the report. A Media Matters study found that from March 16 to March 19, top Hispanic news shows, Univision's Noticiero Univision and Noticiero Univision Edición Nocturna and Telemundo's Noticiero Telemundo made no mentions of the HHS report or the official ACA enrollment numbers disclosed this week. . . ."

Alfredo Richard, a spokesman for Telemundo, told Journal-isms, "We don't have any comments."

However, Jose Zamora, a spokesman for Univision, pointed to "two pieces done by one of our stations and published by our health unit online."

They were "Revelan cifra de hispanos inscritos a un seguro de salud" ("Reveal number of Hispanics enrolled in health insurance") and "Más latinos inscritos en programas de salud" ("More Latinos enrolled in health programs") by Univision Sacramento.

8 Compete for Seed Money from Black Consortium

"The National Black Programming Consortium has narrowed the field for NBPC 360, its ambitious new incubator program, to eight projects,"Dru Sefton reported Wednesday for Current.org. The eight are competing for development funds of $50,000 to $150,000 for series pilots.

"The eight finalists:

• "'Black Broadway on U: A Transmedia Project' by Shellee Haynesworth, a web series telling the story of Washington, D.C.'s vibrant U Street neighborhood in the early 1900s;
  
  
• "'Chronicle: The Other Walter White,' by Shukree Tilghman, a web series about the summer of 1919 when an NAACP field worker passed for white to infiltrate racist corners of the American South;
  
  
• "'The Life's Essentials Docu-Series,' by Muta’Ali Muhammad, a TV series featuring one-on-one interviews to inspire audiences to engage in intergenerational family conversations;
  
  
• "'My Africa Is,' by Nosarieme Garrick, a TV series telling diverse stories of African youth culture;
  
  
• "'The Newark Project: Safe Passage,' by Ouida Washington, a TV series following six young people growing up in one of America's toughest cities;
  
  
• "'Pixie Dust,' by Damon Colquhoun, a web series focusing on a teenage girl who discovers a family secret to help her mentally ill mother;
  
  
• "'POPS,' by Garland McLaurin, a humorous web series exploring fatherhood through the experiences of three African-American men struggling to be good dads; and
  
  
• "'Street Cred,' by Sultan Sharrief, a TV series that challenges Detroit High School students to learn entertainment production skills and compete for an internship."

When a Cartoonist Was Told to 'Lighten Up' A Character

"In a beautifully illustrated comic over at The Nib, cartoonist Ronald Wimberly relays the story of working with an editor who asked him to lighten the skin tone of a character he was working on, Melita Garner, who has been described as Mexican and African-American, a reporter, and Wolverine's ex-girlfriend,"Kat Chow reported Friday for NPR's "Code Switch."

Chow also wrote, "'Why is it important to change the skin tone of this character a few degrees? What purpose does it serve?' Wimberly wonders. 'I wondered if a black editor would have asked me to change her skin tone. I'll keep wondering. After 12 years working in comics, I've yet to have a black editor.' . . ."