The Findings

2007

After a banner year in 2006 for Hispanic stories on A1 and B1 of the Corpus Christi
Caller-Times, 2007 was a year of stabilization. The number of Hispanic stories dropped
from a high of 972 in 2006 to 888, but still was almost twice as many stories as were
reported in 2003 prior to initiating the Parity Project with the National Association of
Hispanic Journalists.

Chart 25 shows how stories on Hispanic issues and on or about Hispanics became part
of the Caller-Times’ news culture. The 888 stories represented 40.5 percent of the total
stories on A1 in 2007. Many of the other stories reported on state and national issues.
To have more than 40 percent of the stories report on “local” Hispanic issues, for the
most part, on A1 certainly reflects a change of direction in the news value on stories for
the community and Hispanics. Simply put, the percentage of stories on Hispanics on
page A1 of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, improved from a low of 21.3 percent prior to
the inception of the NAHJ Parity Project to more than 40 percent in 2006 and 2007
(Chart 26).

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Thus, it is easy to see that coverage of the Hispanic community was very visible on the
Caller-Times’ front section the past two years. By this point, the leadership of the Caller-
Times’ editorial staff – from the publisher to the editor and the metro editors and
reporters- had developed a culture of equity in reporting news that included the Hispanic
community. In 2007, because there was no major step back from the high point reach
in 2006, it was clear that the Caller-Times had now made reporting news on Hispanics
and Hispanic issue just part of the overall news process. A story would be covered
because it was important to the community. Period.

The breakdown of Hispanic stories during 2007, especially for treatment on page A1
was reflective of that “change in attitude” that showed how news judgment had evolved.
Stories on Hispanics on A1 in 2007 continued to be primarily of general interest. In other
words, they were straight news or feature stories. While this may not seem odd for
journalists or every day observers, it is important to note that just five years prior, the
majority of stories about Hispanics on A1 were related to crime.

Crimes Hispanics committed are still reported. There were 96 crime stories reported in
2007, but they represented just a little more than 10 percent of the total stories on
Hispanic on A1. Political and education stories involving Hispanics (132 and 96,
respectively), have taken a more important role in the past two years and it is reflected
on the 2007 Hispanic stories count (Chart 27).

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Chart 27, as in 2006, indicates stories on Hispanics in 2007 are now more of a “general
interest.” General stories reached a high of 324 in 2007 during the course of the study
and represented nearly 36 percent of the stories on Hispanics. Again, while this may not
be apparent to the casual observer, reporting on Hispanics as being part of the general
population, doing things ordinary citizens is truly an achievement and the reason why
the Caller-Times’ leadership sought the help of NAHJ.

Chart 28 graphically shows how the Parity Project, in effect at the Caller-Times at this
point for more than two years, is clearly impacting the number of stories on Hispanics or
Hispanic issues on page A1.

As noted earlier, the Parity Project was in full swing in 2006 and resulted in almost
1,000 stories on Hispanics or Hispanic issues. After this success, it would have been
natural to have a decline. There was a decline, but not significant. The decline was less
than 4%.

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 Note: 1=2003, 2=2004, 3=2005, 4=2006, 5=2007

Chart 29 illustrates the progress on coverage of Hispanics and Hispanic issues during a
5-year period from 2003 to 2007, the last three years under the goals of the NAHJ’s
Parity Project.

Photos on A1 continued to be numerous and showed the faces of Hispanics – young

and old – as they went about their daily routines in Corpus Christi and surrounding
areas. The amount of photos on Hispanics is very visible, and symbolism of Hispanics
being an integral part of the community is not lost.

The December 19, 2007 issue shows how Hispanics are depicted on A1. Three of the
four photos on A1 feature Hispanics. From the live Nativity scene to the new coach at a
local private high school, Hispanics are featured.

The May 22, 2007, issuue shows how having photos and stories about Hispanics is just
part of the natureal news coverage of Caller-Times’ staffers. The lead photo is aboiut
the 50th anniversary celebration at a local middle school. Featured are one Hispanic
education and one Hispanic board member. Alsom, on the same page, four Hispanic
politicians are featured on a story about the Corpus Chirsti City Council.

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 Dec. 19, 2007, Page A1 May 22, 2007, A1

From these two examples, it’s easy to see how Hispanics have become part of the
mainstream in the news coverage for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Page A1
continued, in 2007, to have plenty of photos and stories featuring Hispanics. Page B1,
the tradtional page to place “important” news about Hispanics in the early 21st century,
has also kept pace. During 2007, Hispanic stoires totalled 1,296, representing almost 54
percent of the total stories on B1 (Table 13).

_______________________________________
Table 13 – Local B1 Hispanic Stories – 2007

Hispanic Stories Total Stories

1,296 2,402
_________________________________________

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 During 2007, coverage on local section B1 continued to be responsive to Hispanic-
themed stories and issues. Again, the majority of stories on Page B1 during 2007
were about Hispanics or on issues impacting Hispanics. During 2007 (Table 14), in
Section B1, general interest stories were top ranked (290), followed by politics (228),
education and health/medical (168 each). Crime stories involving Hispanic
perpetrators continued to be covered and totaled 56.

_______________________________________
Table 14 – Local B1 Hispanic Stories – 2007

Story Type Number

General 290
Discrimination 24
Religion 24
Human Interest 62
Health/Medical 168
Immigration 60
Heritage 48
Politics 228
Education 168
C-Victims 96
C-Preps 56
Disasters 36
Art and Culture 36

TOTAL 1296

_______________________________________

Tables 13 and 14 certainly show that, at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, reporting on
Hispanics and the issues that surround the community is directly tied to reporting what
is important in the overall community. When more than 50 percent of the stores on the
local front are about Hispanics or issues involving Hispanics for two consecutive years,
there is little doubt that some sort of equity or parity has been achieved.

Photos of Hispanics and bylines by Hispanic staffers also continued to grow in 2007 and
certainly set a standard which would be hard to keep pace with in the future. Photos
depicting Hispanics totaled 984 while on A1 and 1,080 on B1 (Chart 29). Bylines by
Hispanic staffers on A1 totaled 526 and on B1 560.

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 Note: 1=2003, 2=2004, 3=2005, 4=2006, 5=2007

A review of front local fronts (B1) during 2007 shows how coverage of Hispanics and
bylines by Hispanic reporters are commonplace. It is hard to recall how rare this was
just four to five years ago.

Chart 30 shows the growth of Hispanic Bylines on both A1 and B1 from 2003 through
2007. With stories and photos of Hispanics, as well as more bylines by Hispanics
staffers, the paper was certainly developing a Hispanic flavor.

Photos on B1 also continued to show an increase (Chart 29) and in 2007 totaled more
than 1,000. Photos featuring Hispanics in a variety of situations were more than 50
percent of the total photos n B1.

The difference in photos of Hispanics on both A1 and B1 is striking, in spite of the

format change that resulted in more photos in 2006.

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Chart 30 speaks volumes as to the impact of Hispanic staffers in the Caller-Times
newsroom. While many of the hires in 2004 and 2005 were “rookies” and just out of
college, by 2006 and 2007 they had earned the trust and respect of editors and were
afforeded the opportunity to cover all facets of the community.

Bylines by Hispanic stafffers on A1 and B1 more than tripled when 2007 numbers were
compared to 2003 bylines. In 2007, there were 1,086 total bylines by Hispanic staffers
on A1 and B1 compared to 124 in 2003.

A review of front pages in 2006 and 2007 displayed the following Hispaic names on
bylines on A1 and B1.

Adriana Tapia Garza, Vanessa Santos-Garza, Isis Fernandez, Nancy Martinez, Mary
Ann Cavazos, Israel Saenz, Barbara Ramirez, Jim Sanchez, Fanny Chirnos, Elivia
Aguilar, Javier Becerra, Omar Becerra, Estevan Velas quez, Nick Jimenez, Cassandra
Hinojosa, Richard Guerrero and Rubi Reyes. There were more Hispanic on the copy
desk, photo staff and computer staff. The bylines, however, helped show their visbility.

The two pages displayed on page 53 will help explain this better.

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 May 27, 2007 Local Front, B1 Dec. 12, 2007, Local Front, B1

In the May 27, 2007 B1, the page has a definite Hispanic flavor with a report on
Hispanic state legislators budget battle in Austin, a column by Vanessa Santos Garza
on local collector David de la Cruz, and a report on the juvenile justice system with
photos of two young Hispanic defendants. On the Dec. 12 issue, two of the four stories
have Hispanic bylines and they are not stories about Hispanics. That shows the growth
and maturity of the editorial staff at the Caller-Times. Reporters are placed on a variety
of stories and not just Hispanic stories. During 2007, the number of stories bylined by
Hispanics reporters on A1 totaled 526 and on B1 there were 560 bylined stories by
Hispanics. The combined total for both section fronts was 1080. Hispanic reporters are
getting assignments and it’s not just necessarily a story about Hispanics.

In 2007 the Caller-Times again proved what was reported in the 2006 review - if a
newspaper is supposed to reflect its community, The Corpus Christi Caller-Times,
thanks in part to the NAHJ and its Parity Project, has accomplished that goal.

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