HispanicVista Columnists

Clear Channel Trying to Get Away

By Robert Miranda

Milwaukee Spanish Journal

"Taking Sides"--1/22/2005

Representatives at Clear Channel Communications have been working diligently to prevent this corporation from being held accountable for the actions of their employee, Mark Belling.

  To avoid having to respond to the greater needs of the Latino community, Clear Channel has opted instead to satisfy the greed of one community based agency, the Wisconsin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. 

  Clear Channel Communications did what any self-serving corporation would have done-they looked for the weakest link in the community and found it. They did after all try to find a wedge between them and justice. The fact of the matter is, Clear Channel Communications is a business and being such, has always looked out for its own best interest. Realizing that a united community front would probably cost this corporation more to resolve the Mark Belling matter, they opted to look for the group they could use and spend less of their resources with-and they found that group.

  As the Wisconsin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce enjoys the fruits of its betrayal, it must be said that this group appears to be, well, lets say, lacking Latino representation. A review of the organization’s membership appears to tell a story of a group calling itself “Hispanic” yet it is not a majority Hispanic organization. The list tells a story of an organization that looks to be 40% Hispanic at best.

  Now, I’ve never liked math and it could be possible that my number is off, but I sure get the impression that the “Hispanic” in the “Hispanic Chamber of Commerce” is not a big member representation.
  In addition, another disturbing issue about this so-called Hispanic group has surfaced. It is reported that presently there is a policy in place that prevents undocumented students from being able to compete or receive scholarships that this group offers annually.

  I have yet to verify if in fact this is the case or not, but I do plan to find out next week. In the meantime, I invite all my readers to look into this.

  But let’s get back to Clear Channel. What would have been the costs to Clear Channel had Maria Cameron not cut her deal with this corporation? Well, efforts to have Clear Channel fund a center for journalism for Latino students could have been something to pursue.

  Indeed, it was done in Washington DC where a broadcast group called Infinity Broadcasting was forced to create a communications learning center for the African-American community. Keith Murphy of the “Morning Magazine Show” at WMCS 1290 Radio gave me the idea when we first started organizing against Mark Belling’s racist comment. That would have been a nice thing to do for the Latino community.

  Imagine. A bigot caused harm to our people by spewing hatred against us. We mobilize for justice and end up getting a center where generations of Latinos can learn to be journalists, broadcasters and editors.
  Boy, I’d trade in my autographed Shania Twain picture for that any day.

  Clear Channel can’t get away from our call for justice