Esther Renteria, 67; pushed TV stations to hire more Latinos

“Esther Renteria was moved by what she did not see on television.

With the premiere of “Ahora” on KCET-TV in 1969, the journalist became the first Latina to appear in a nightly newscast. But in the years that followed, that success underscored a harsh reality: the near absence of Latinos from broadcast media.

Correcting the injustice became Renterias passion. For decades, she worked to increase the number of Latinos in news and other programs. She formed advocacy groups, met with general managers of stations, filed petitions with the Federal Communications Commission and raised scholarship funds for Latino journalism students. “

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