Assemblyman Phil Ramos (D-Brentwood) announced that he will be moderating a workshop, Saturday, March 25th, on the role and challenges faced by multicultural media in informing Latino and other diverse communities. The workshop is part of the Assembly’s Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force’s annual spring conference.

“New York is one of the most diverse states in the country, and that’s a huge part of what makes it dynamic and strong,” said Ramos. “This workshop serves as a conversation on multicultural media and the strategies they use to relay information in diverse communities.”

New York is home to nearly 3.7 million Latinos, making up 19 percent of the population. Every year, the task force helps put together an array of workshops and forums to discuss the strides made by Latino communities, acknowledge the barriers and issues that affect Latino youth and plan steps to continue making progress. This year marks the conference’s 30th anniversary and will be one of the biggest, noted Ramos.

The annual conference brings together community leaders who represent the diverse communities that make up New York. The workshop, which is free and open to the public, is titled, “Multicultural Media: Essential for Community Success.” It will include the following panelists:

• Gerson Borrero, contributor, HITN;
• Alex Nogales, president and CEO, National Hispanic Media Coalition;
• Ramon J. Pineda, vice president and general manager, Univision Communications;
• Rafael Pi Roman, anchor, Metro Focus – Thirteen/WNET;
• Julio Saenz, general manager, Poder 97.1 FM;
• Debralee Santos, editor, The Manhattan Times and The Bronx Free Press;
• Nomar Vizcarondo, content director, WADO 1280 AM – Univision Radio; and
• Kay Hsin-Lien Wang, marketing director, New America Media.