L-R: Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs Nisha Agarwal
By Isseu Diouf Campbell
Mayor Bill de Blasio, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs Nisha Agarwal met at City Hall for the very first time with members of the ethnic and community media on February 17, 2016 for a roundtable.
The roundtable was a follow-up to a discussion started on January 27, 2016, at a city Council Committee on Immigration hearing hosted by council member Carlos Menchaca on how the City could support ethnic media to ensure that immigrant communities receive information on local matters.
Several members of the ethnic media expressed their frustration over the lack of advertisement from the city, access to city officials and translation of city material.
Even though ad budget for ethnic and community media has more than tripled since 2013 going from a mere $400.000 to 1.3 million, some members of the ethnic media especially the African community have yet to see the change.
During the City’s IDNYC campaign, $818, 000 was spent across ethnic media, but not a single dollar went to the African media.
Nevertheless, Mayor Bill de Blasio, very prudent at not overpromising, announced the creation of a Directory of Community and Ethnic Media for City Agency communications staff and three new seats in City Hall’s press rooms.
