Hispanic Personal Finance Reporting Program
Improving Personal Finance Literacy in Hispanic Communities:
A Training Program for Latino Journalists in Washington, DC and Denver
Sponsored by The McGraw-Hill Companies
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Purpose
The Hispanic Personal Finance Reporting Program of the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) will provide hands-on training to Latino journalists working in New York City and Washington, D.C. The purpose is to provide an opportunity to improve personal finance literacy in Hispanic communities in the United States by training Latino journalists to effectively cover consumer finance issues. The program is aimed specifically at Latino journalists at Spanish-and English-language Hispanic news organizations in New York City and the metro areas. Between 15 and 20 journalists from print, radio, television and on-line news 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 Washington, DC workshop will be on September 8 & 9.
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 be $700 billion and projected 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.