by the El Reportero’s news services
Penélope Cruz
Spanish actress Penelope Cruz will be one of the presenters during the Feb. 26 Oscar awards ceremony at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Thursday.
Cruz, the winner of the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (2008), will join the artists who will participate in the gala, a group that includes Jennifer Lopez, Angelina Jolie, Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Halle Berry and Cameron Diaz.
The Madrid native has become a regular at these award ceremonies, having also been nominated for her work in “Volver” in 2006 and in “Nine” in 2009.
Among the Latino nominees at this year’s Oscars are Mexico’s Demian Bichir (“A Better Life”), who is in the running for Best Actor, and his countryman Emmanuel Lubezki, who will vie for the golden statue for Best Cinematography for “The Tree of Life,” as well as Argentine-born Berenice Bejo, who is up for Best Supporting Actress for “The Artist.”
Spanish composer Alberto Iglesias has been nominated in the Best Music (Original Score) category for “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.”
Also, Spain’s “Chico & Rita” was nominated for Best Animated Feature.
Study Finds Hispanics are Being Left Out of Sunday TV Talk Shows
Hispanics constitute the largest minority in the United States, have growing purchasing power and are able to determine elections but they continue to be invisible on the Sunday news talk shows, according to a report by the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts.
The Art of Politics Impact Project report, released on Tuesday evening, suggests that the English-language media have not kept up with the country’s demographic changes.
There are 50.5 million Hispanics in the United States, or a little over 16 percent of the country’s population, but their absence is particularly notable on the Sunday talk shows.
“These programs are a forum that establishes the tone and the agenda of the national dialogue. The communications media help to mold public opinion and Hispanics are not there to contribute to that dialogue,” Gretchen Sierra-Zorita, the director of the NHFA’s cultural diversity project in the media, told Efe on Wednesday.
According to the report, between March and November 2011, only 12 – or 2 percent – of the 380 invited guests and commentators on Sunday programs for ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC were of Hispanic origin.
The 2010 Census figures testify to the Hispanic increase in the United States and, in fact, their growing political power was a decisive factor in the 2010 legislative elections, even moreso than the Tea Party, the NHFA said.
