The media's reckoning over Hispanic representation

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Monday met with The New York Times to discuss the lack of Latino representation at the paper.

The big picture: Leaders in the Hispanic community have for years been putting pressure on U.S. media companies to include more Hispanic representation in their coverage. The election has served as a wake-up call for many news outlets to take those calls seriously.

• "These issues go beyond cultural cluelessness to not fully understanding what’s at play," says Fernando Espuelas, a Univision radio host.

Driving the news: Sources say the CHC meeting was a candid conversation. Participants included business executives at The Times, including president and CEO Meredith Kopit Levien.

• "The meeting demonstrated a commitment from the New York Times to ensure Latinos are fairly represented and accurately portrayed," said a source familiar with the meeting. "Hopefully there will be a future conversation with the news and editorial side of the company.”

What to watch: Media companies that target Hispanics have been making efforts to put more Hispanic voices in leadership positions.

• Univision added four new independent directors to its board last week, all of whom are Hispanic.
• Fuse Media, an English-language media company that serves mostly Hispanic and multicultural audiences, sold a majority stake to a Latino-led management group last week.
• The Los Angeles Times last month pledged to become a more "inclusive and inspiring voice" of California after months of pressure from its Hispanic employees to hire more journalists that reflect the paper's readership.