Black and Hispanic Firefighter Applicants Have Doubled – The Fire Department’s pool of black and Hispanic job candidates has more than doubled since 2002, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said yesterday, raising hopes that efforts to hire more minority firefighters might be yielding results. Slightly more than 30 percent of the 4,000 applicants scoring highest on this year’s exam were black or Hispanic, compared with just under 14 percent in 2002, the last time the test was given. There were also three times as many women in this year’s top 4,000. New York Times, online.
Hispanics Tune in for Patriots’ Dramatic Comeback Victory – The last-minute drama kept viewers on the edge of their seat and helped NBC grab the top-rated English-language program viewed by Hispanics, according to figures released by the Nielsen Media Group for the week of Nov. 19-25. The game drew a 7.5 rating among Hispanic viewers, surpassing ABC’s ’Dancing with the Stars’ for the top spot in the ratings that monitor Hispanic viewership. Hispanic Business, online.
Mexicans top Latino immigrant groups in language struggles, study days – Nearly three of every four Mexican immigrants speak English ’just a little or not at all,’ the lowest rate among Latin American immigrant groups, according to a new study. The reasons for poorer English skills among Mexican immigrants include lower education levels before entering the U.S., less time in the U.S. and a greater likelihood of speaking Spanish at work, the study said. Chicago Tribune, online.
Hispanics and Techs - When it comes to owning portable MP3 players or handheld video game devices, Hispanics outpace their non-Hispanic counterparts, a recent technology report found. The study is the latest effort to understand how to reach Hispanic consumers, a large, fast-growing, but hardly homogenous group. The report found that, overall, 33 percent of Hispanic consumers own handheld video game devices, compared with 30 percent of non-Hispanic consumers. San Francisco Chronicle, online.
Immigration at Record Level, Analysis Finds – Immigration over the past seven years was the highest for any seven-year period in American history, bringing 10.3 million new immigrants. One in eight people living in the United States is an immigrant, the survey found, for a total of 37.9 million people — the highest level since the 1920s. The survey focuses on public costs associated with the new generation of immigrant workers. It does not, however, analyze contributions they make by paying taxes and taking undesirable, low-income jobs — an omission criticized by some immigration scholars. The New York Times, online.
‘Latin Leno’ aims to give Spanish TV a boost - Late night has had sporadic success on Hispanic TV, but Telemundo is banking on bilinguals who have grown up laughing along with Leno and Letterman to drive viewership and advertising. ”Our eventual goal is five nights a week, then take over the world,” says Cambert, a Cuban American whom entertainment industry trades have dubbed the ”Latin Leno” and “Seinfeld in Spanish.” Miami Herald, online.
Aracely Arámbula joins the Todobebé Family – Todobebé Inc, announced that actress Aracely Arámbula, one of the most beloved new moms in the Hispanic World, will join Todobebé’s new TV show, under development for launch in 2008. Aracely will be the main host of the show, working together with Jeannette Kaplun, Karen Martínez, and Humberto Rodríguez; she will also be collaborating with Todobebé on radio, digital media, music, products and more. Hispanic Business, online.
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