Activists and entrepreneurs Jess Morales Rocketto and Stephanie Valencia on Friday announced the formation of a new Hispanic media company known as the Latino Media Network following the purchase of 10 radio stations from TelevisaUnivision.
Morales Rocketto, who previously worked at Hillary for America and the AFL-CIO among other groups, and Valencia, a former White House staffer under President Barack Obama, received $80 million in backing from a group of investors led by Lakestar Finance, which is affiliated with Soros Fund Management, founded by George Soros, along with several individuals.
The Latino Media Network will include 18 Hispanic radio stations in 10 different markets, which were purchased from TelevisaUnivision in a deal worth about $60 million. The media group’s advisers will include Maria Elena Salinas, an anchor with Univision, and Al Cardenas, the former chair of both the Florida Republican Party and the American Conservative Union.
These areas include "some of the most dense markets in the country," with "access to one-third of the Hispanic population" of the United States according to Morales Rocketto, including Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and Houston.
"It's pretty audacious for people like us to be doing something this big," Morales Rocketto told Axios. "Steph and I have been raising money for a long time, but this is orders of magnitude bigger than what we've ever done."
She added, "Our track record in our community speaks for itself, and our ability to get this done has been tested. But you don't get these kinds of people to come together if it's not serious."
Valencia said, "So often our stories have been erased or invisible. In some ways, you wouldn’t know that Latinos will be the principal part of the U.S. population in our lifetime. Us being able to bring a sense of belonging, influence and power to this community is incredibly important."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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