Program Seeks To Boost Latino Use Of Broadband

CINCINNATI -- In conjunction with its 82nd Annual National Convention, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), along with the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) launched two new public service announcements encouraging Latinos to embrace and use the Internet.

The two public service announcements, which will be aired by broadcast, cable and other media partners over the coming months, depict those who don't use the Internet as historical artifacts.

In one ad, a "pre-Internet family" is a museum exhibit; in another, a man using the newspaper classifieds to look for a job is literally "tagged" as a near-extinct breed.
"Broadband access holds tremendous potential for the Latino community," said LULAC President Margaret Moran. "It links people to employment opportunities, students to financial aid, language learners to educational resources, immigrants to information on integrating into their new communities, and friends and family to each other. Yet study after study shows that Latinos go online far less than Asians and non-Hispanic whites."

The ads are part of the National Broadband Awareness Campaign, a collaboration between One Economy, a global non-profit, and the Broadband Opportunity Coalition, a group of leading civil rights organizations.

The Campaign targets communities of color, who have been slower to adopt high speed Internet because of a lack of access, and promotes the many advantages of being online.

"The rapid evolution of technology and society's ever growing reliance on the Internet demands that we move aggressively to close the existing divide between those with broadband access and those in our community without," stated Janet Murguia, NCLR President and CEO. "The message is simple; having access to broadband can make a positive difference in every aspect of your family's life. Most importantly, this effort is a vital component to ensuring our community has the skills needed to continue playing a critical role in our country's workforce in the 21st century."

A recent Pew survey found that only 55 percent of Latinos have internet access at home, and only 26 percent of Spanish-dominant Latinos have broadband access at home. Only 65 percent of Latinos went online at all in 2010, while more than three-quarters of non-Hispanic whites did.

"Our goal is to reach 20 million people with this campaign," said Brent Wilkes, LULAC Executive Director. "There is no reason that 33 percent of Americans should still not have internet access at home. In today's connected society, internet access should be viewed as essential a utility as water or electric. We find the number one reason people give for not adopting it is that they don't think it is useful for them. We hope to change that point of view through these PSAs."