Laura Wides-Muñoz, a reporter for the Associated Press based in Miami, examines the future of media and the impact + influence Hispanic media will have on it in her story “The Future Is Ours” for Nieman Reports. It is a must read. 

She notes how Fusion is one representation of Hispanic media blending into the mainstream –

ABC and Univision are on to something. They both need to hook the 18- to 35-year-old demographic so coveted by advertisers. The average Latino in the U.S. is 27 years old, the average non-Hispanic white American is 42. And yet market research has demonstrated that while second- and third-generation Latinos want content that reflects their experience, they don’t want to be walled off from the mainstream.

So Fusion is also looking beyond Latinos to attract other millennials. The network remains in its infancy. And capturing a generation that views television as a quaint vestige from childhood is no small task. Still, Fusion’s very existence is an acknowledgement by the general market and Spanish-language media giants that they need to keep up with this new generation.

… Fusion is betting the two aren’t mutually exclusive—that it can direct content to Hispanic America and be part of the mainstream conversation as well. “We want to follow what’s popular in social media,” veteran Spanish-language journalist and now Fusion news anchor Jorge Ramos said on his inaugural show back in October. “But also, as journalists, we want to report on issues that we care about deeply, too. We want to be a bridge between those two Americas.”

As the border between Hispanic and mainstream media blurs, new formats and outlets are rising up that look and sound unlike their predecessors. The change may be jarring to some, and the recipe remains a work in progress, but the result will likely be an industry better poised to cover the news and to adapt to a new generation of media consumers.

Read full story here.