We are thrilled to be joined by the CEO of Agua Media, an Emmy-winning journalist, author, and podcast host, Rick Sanchez, whose career spans nearly 30 years as an anchor on CNN, FOX News, NBC, Univision, and iHeartRadio. Our conversation with Rick ranges from Hispanic representation in entertainment to the current state of news and media, and the many changes that have to be made to improve how Hispanics are perceived. 

“We’re 20% of the population and are cast less than 4% of the time in movies,” he shared, citing USC Annenberg’s hispanic-latino-rep-2021-09-13.pdf"> Hispanic and Latino Representation in Film: Erasure On Screen & Behind The Camera. “It’s not representative of who we are in the country. And when they do cast as us, 37-40% of the time we’re cast as a criminal. Another 20-30% of the time… it’s as a domestic worker. If that’s how they paint us, that’s what all people are going to think we are.” 

Speaking on the contributions that Hispanics and Latinx make in the US and the skewed perception depicted in the news and media, Rick shared, “We are the 5th largest GDP in the world and the 3rd fastest-growing GDP, behind only China and India, and ahead of the United States. 80% of Latinos are U.S. citizens and 95% of Latinos under the age of 41 speak English. These are facts and nobody knows them. Instead, they think we’re just a bunch of guys jumping a fence or swimming in a river who got here last week and are just sitting around watching Telemundo. It’s really weird.” 

Watch our full interview with Rick Sanchez above, and tune in to The Rick Sanchez Podcast at AguaMedia.com or wherever you get your podcasts.