Hispanic Personal Finance Reporting Program
Improving Personal Finance Literacy in Hispanic Communities:
A Training Program for Latino Journalists
Sponsored by The McGraw-Hill Companies
Apply here:
Purpose
The Hispanic Personal Finance Reporting Program of the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) will provide hands-on training to Latino journalists working at Spanish-and English-language news organizations in the United States. Between 10 and 15 journalists from print, radio, television and on-line media outlets will participate in a two-day workshop. The training will address the full spectrum of critical personal finance topics, including investing, consumer debt, financial planning, mortgages, and retirement planning.
The Denver workshop will be on January 16 & 17, 2009
This program would expand the ability of the increasingly influential Hispanic media in the United States to provide timely and reliable personal finance information to the Latino community. Given its enormous buying power—estimated to reach $1 trillion in 2008—there is a pronounced need for the Hispanic population in the United States to improve its personal financial literacy. This is particularly true in immigrant communities, whose members generally come from developing countries with cash-based economies. Unaccustomed to the American system of credit financing—and often unaware of the serious consequences of consumer debt—these communities are highly vulnerable to predatory lending practices and outright credit scams.
Training Hispanic journalists to cover consumer finance issues can be a very effective way to raise personal financial literacy in Latino communities. Ethnic media comprise the fastest growing industry segment in the United States.