It all seems impossible until someone has done it. Whether it takes a few years or a few decades, the fight for more diverse inclusion in the media continues, and sports journalism is no exception. Join host Mariana Bermúdez as she delves into the numbers surrounding Latino presence in the newsroom and how other Latino sports journalists have inspired her to develop her career aspirations.
Mariana: ¡Hola a todos! Welcome back to From the Stands, a podcast where we dive deep into the world of soccer, and not just what happens on the pitch. I’m your host, Mariana Bermudez, and today we will broaden our conversation a bit. First, I’ll talk a bit about my experience being an aspiring sports journalist at Northwestern. Then, a few numbers on representation in the media and, to end, I’ll take you on a trip to the NAHJ 2024 Conference and Expo this past summer, where I saw a few Latina and Latino sports journalists who inspired me to continue in my journey.
So purchase your game ticket, pick the best seat and enjoy the match, as everything happens… from the stands!
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As I mentioned in the first episode of From the Stands, I want to be a sports journalist. It is no secret to many people. I would like to think that the more I say it, the more I manifest it! So yes, that is my plan. A lot of people tell me I already am one, but I think of myself as one “in progress.” So let’s keep it that way for now.
During my time at Northwestern so far, I have met many talented aspiring sports journalists through the student publications and organizations I have gone by, but I still haven’t met many Latino sports journalists, let alone Latina sports journalists.
Obviously, this is based on my own experiences, and I could even be wrong in my assumptions, but the industry has also shown the lack of Latino presence in sports media. Most importantly, the lack of people of color in sports media.
Just to give you a glimpse of how this looks like in the present, here are four categories to keep in mind: People of color in the media, people of color in the sports media, Latinos in the media and Latinos in the sports media.
In 2022, the Pew Research Center surveyed nearly 12,000 U.S.-based journalists. One of the conclusions made was the disproportion that exists in newsrooms when it comes to race and ethnicity. Of the journalists surveyed, 76 percent were white, 8 percent Hispanic, 6 percent Black and 3 percent Asian.
If we zoom in on journalists that work in sports media, 82 percent were white, 6 percent Hispanic, 5 percent Black and 1 percent Asian.
While I could make an episode alone dedicated to what these statistics mean beyond the surface level of the numbers, let’s instead zoom in even further into what these numbers mean for Hispanic and Latino sports journalists in the United States.
I have some news: I went into my handy-dandy calculator and made some calculations of the possible number who work in sports journalism, based on the numbers provided by the Pew Research Center. For starters, from the 12,000 journalists surveyed, the 8 percent who are Hispanic accounted for 960 journalists. If we focus on sports journalism, of those 960 journalists, the 6 percent that covered sports were between 57 to 58 journalists. Now, these numbers could also be less or more, considering the survey only grasped 93 percent of journalists’ racial or ethnic identity. So, let’s consider them as a placeholder for now.
The point here is that while I am hoping these numbers have grown since 2022, if we place them into perspective there is still a lot of work to do. However, this is not to say that no work has been achieved, which leads me to my next topic.
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This past summer, I attended my first ever NAHJ Conference and Expo, which is short for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. There, I convinced myself that the future is bright for Latino and Hispanic-identifying journalists hoping to break into sports media and to the journalism world in general. With a variety of sports workshops to choose from throughout the five days of the conference, I learned so much and was in awe hearing about how much people are currently doing in the industry, continuing to pave the way for the next generations to come.
NAHJ’s Sports Task Force, one of the many specialization groups offered to NAHJ members, played a big role in making these sessions available to attendees. If I am being frank, I did not know such a task force existed when I first became involved in Northwestern’s NAHJ chapter, which is why, at the convention, I knew I had to take advantage of their offerings.
While everyone I saw speak was amazing, there were two people in particular whose valuable advice have served as an encouragement in my career.
The first person was Nico Cantor. Does that last name ring a bell to you? If you don’t remember, in the second episode of From the Stands where I discussed the impact of Spanish broadcasting in sports, I mentioned Andrés Cantor.
Yes. Andrés Cantor, one of the most iconic Spanish sports commentators in the industry, is Nico Cantor’s father. Now, I only mention this for clarity. Something that captivated me about Nico Cantor’s career is that while he admitted his last name does carry weight, he has managed to find his own pathway in sports journalism. But more on that in a bit.
A little background on Nico Cantor first. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, he is the son of an Argentinian father and a Honduran mother. He has degrees in broadcast journalism and romance languages from New York University, and he has worked at a few places as a bilingual sports journalist. A lot of his early work was at Univision as a studio analyst and U.S. Men’s National Team reporter. He was also a bilingual commentator for Univision’s coverage of Major League Soccer, which is the United State’s domestic soccer league, and Liga MX, the Mexican domestic league.
In 2020, Cantor joined CBS Sports as a soccer host and analyst. He is currently the host of “The Golazo Show,” aired on Paramount+ and CBS Sports Network, a show dedicated to the coverage of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League, which are all European soccer club tournaments.
Cantor was moderator at the panel “The Road Less Taken in Sports Media.” There, he talked a bit about never thinking he would end up in English-language broadcasting, after explaining how most of his early positions were in Spanish-language networks. He said it was an example of how, as a journalist, one should be open to endless possibilities in the industry because we never know where we can end up in a few years.
Alongside the other incredible panelists, who also work at CBS Sports, he agreed that opportunities will only come with hard work. Without hard work, we aren’t going to be where we want to be. I hope that doesn’t sound too scary! It helped me look at the bright side–hard work eventually, most likely, pays off.
As I look at some of the notes I took on my notebook right next to me, some general advice they all gave was to always strive to be better at what we do, even if we feel like we are already at the peak of our skill learning or at the peak of our dream position. They said to not be scared to ask questions, as everyone needs help no matter how good they are at what they do. Also, whatever we do, do not stop. And I mean this, literally, in capitalized letters, DO NOT STOP. To everyone listening right now, do not stop!
Most certainly, in a room full of Latinos, they advised us to not feel discouraged for sounding the way we sound. Although I admit I do not have much of a thick accent when I speak English, many Latinos do, which is why they emphasized the importance of embracing it as it allows our authenticity to shine. Finally, they said to wear our Latino badge with pride. Now, they didn’t have to tell me twice on that one!
After this panel, the next day I attended the panel “Latina Power Brokers in the Soccer Industry,” also hosted by CBS Sports and moderated by Samantha Rivera, who is the second person I will touch on.
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Samantha Rivera was born and raised in the Chicago area and is of Mexican heritage. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and public relations and advertising from DePaul University. A bilingual sports journalist, she currently works as a sports anchor and reporter for CBS Miami. Previously, she worked as a sports anchor and reporter for NBC5 Chicago, Telemundo Chicago and NBC Sports Chicago. She is also a board member on NAHJ’s Sports Task Force.
Now, before we continue, let me tell you a little anecdote about this panel. I don’t know, but, being there, just something about being in a room where almost half of the attendees were women that day, eager to hear from an all-women panel, gave me the chills. The literal chills, all over my body! It was powerful, and it spoke a lot on how we have grown to have a seat at the table in the sports industry. As women and, in our case, as Latinas.
Now, back to the panel.
When discussing how to break into the industry, they emphasized having a general passion for sports and to develop a skill set. In an industry that is constantly evolving, from the specific sports world to the general journalism world, this is extremely important. As a way to stand out, they recommended mixing journalism with our own personal knowledge, whatever way that may look like for us. They also encouraged us to look for opportunities in both English and Spanish; that if we were bilingual to use it as a superpower. I really liked that example: using it as a superpower. Again, it tied back to the idea of language and being able to embrace it in our careers.
Finally, similar to the first panel, an important key to success is to also embrace being Latina. To tap into the role models we have in the industry or even outside of journalism, and to look up to the people who look like us. Doing this keeps our hopes for progression alive and gets us closer to what can look unreachable at first.
I have to admit that attending this conference last year really changed my life, and it’s not to be dramatic, it’s just that I’ve never attended something like it and before attending it I didn’t know how much support existed. I think it was amazing, I don’t even have words to describe it. It’s almost been a year and I still, I think especially hearing Nico Cantor and Samatha Rivera speak on their journeys and what they’ve had to go through, it was amazing to see them and to hear about what they are doing and how they are continuing to pave the way and becoming role models themselves.
And, although I couldn’t go up to Samantha Rivera or Nico Cantor because everybody wanted to talk to them–I just didn’t have a chance to do so–I would’ve liked to just tell them “thank you.” Thank you for continuing to do what they do because it really helps us. It helps us to continue to believe that there is a seat at the table for us and that our identities are only one way in which we can create change through our work.
And I also convinced myself that a lot can change in the span of a year, in the span of months, and attending NAHJ’s 2024 conference not only opened my eyes to a bigger community of Latino and Hispanic-identifying journalists, but also to the strong support that exists for Latinos in sports media. Yes, the numbers say we might be a small portion, but at the end of the day, numbers are just numbers.
For me, it started from the stands–see what I did there? Watching only a few people who look like me on television or reading only a few articles from people whose names read like mine. Now, I am playing on the pitch and finding my own way through a tough but rewarding industry. So let the ball roll, and let’s continue to see where it will lead us!
This brings me to the conclusion of this episode of From the Stands. I’ll catch you next time when what I will talk about is yet to be unveiled, so stay tuned! Thank you so much for listening!
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