Leaders Charge:
Quad City Media Neglect
Hispanic Issues

Three Quad City area Hispanic leaders accuse the local news media of ignoring the Hispanic community although a fourth one disagreed. Quad City TV and newspaper journalists defend their coverage of Hispanics but some concede they could do better.

Hispanics are the fastest growing minority in the Quad Cities, a trend mirrored nationally. The 2000 census indicated Hispanics make up 8.5% of Rock Island County's population and 4.1% of Scott County's population. The Hispanic population for Rock Island County is up almost 60% since 1990, according to the census.

Viva Quad Cities 2004 Courtesy Dispatch Publishing

Tarsicio Macias of Silvis, Illinois agreed with Adasme.  Macias started his own newspaper Hola America five years ago so "people could see what we're doing," he said. 

The president of a local Mexican cultural center also believes the local news media under-report Hispanic issues. But Stella Schneekloth, who heads the Moline chapter of Casa Guana Jauto, does not know if it would make any difference. "Non-English speakers don't take the (mainstream) papers," she said. And, she added, they watch the Spanish language channels for their TV news.

East Moline mayor Joe Moreno is the only one to see it differently. "For the most part they (the local news media) do a good job." They cover Hispanic issues, he said, because they know it's a fast growing minority population. According to Moreno, 15% of East Moline's population is Hispanic. That is the most of any of the Quad Cities, he said.

 Media See it Differently
 Journalists at the Quad Cities primary media outlets defend  their  records, although they have varying  views on how  extensive their  coverage is.

"A part of me feels there is decent coverage of the Hispanic community," said Michelle Aguayo, a news anchor at WQAD-TV for the past 11 years. "As I say this I am reminded also of all the stories we miss in this community."

KWQC-TV Assignment Editor Andrea Davidson rated her station as" pretty good" at covering Hispanic issues. She cited stories in recent months on immigration, citizenship and English as a second language.

"I'd give our paper a weak B" for Hispanic coverage, said Russ Scott, Managing Editor of the Dispatch/Argus in a 2003 interview. Since that time, however, the Dispatch/Argus hired a reporter who has written several stories on Hispanic issues. Recent subjects included an English as a Second Language program that was expanded at the East Moline Library and a story on Spanish speaking financial advisors in the Quad Cities.

"We're interested in doing more through our cultural, religion or regional news coverage," Quad City Times Editor John Humenik said. The paper has updated its source lists to include minorities, Humenik said, so a wider range of people are quoted in stories. Photographers are also told to include minorities in their photographs, he added.

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