This article applied to class in the fact that some of us who are working with purely ethnic communities are trying to figure out what their groups ethnicity has to do with their issues. However, for my group it is a bit different because the Muslim community is so ethnic and full of people from so many cultures and countries and different dialects. However, for me, what unifies my group is their faith, so for me, I need to look at where their faith plays a role in some of the issues they face. I liked the article, and I was shocked to read that the phrase white Hispanic has only been used 5 times. However, what I can take from this piece to improve my papers is to think about how powerful the words I am using are.

Consider this story in the context of class discussions and your own experience so far. Will you apply any aspects or ideas to your own reporting? This article ties in to a lot of our class discussions because we have been talking about the challenges of reporting about a cultural or racial group that is different from your own. This article discusses how the media might be classifying the man who killed Treyvon Martin as "white hispanic" in order to make a larger point about white and black people. It also ties into journalists' code of ethics because it's unfair to give someone a classification that doesn't fit them just because it works for their agenda, so I think that this Hispanic man should have some input about how he ... More »

In this particular article, the author indicates that George Zimmerman, the man who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, has been portrayed by news outlets as a “white Hispanic.” As a result of this, many individuals have started to assume that George Zimmerman, a “white” individual, killed Trayvon Martin, who was black. Although Zimmerman would consider himself as just a Hispanic, news outlets used the word white in order to beef up their story and make it seem as though the crime that occurred was a result of a “white racist,” which has caused a lot of conflict. This goes to show that information reported by news organizations can have an immense effect on the public and the way that identity is shaped in the public, ... More »

Consider this story in the context of class discussions and your own experience so far. Will you apply any aspects or ideas to your own reporting? One of the parts of this piece that I like is the author's explanation of the term of Hispanic. The truth behind the term is little-known and many mistaken Hispanic/Latino as an identification of race, when that is simply not true. Using the context of the controversy around the identification of Zimmerman, this author explains why some of the media labels Zimmerman as white-Hispanic. Since I am working in the Latino community, this is especially relevant for me, but it is a key concept that I will try to remember. Making sure that everyone understands common misconceptions will ... More »