Why Univison’s George Zimmerman Interview Wasn’t Suprising

By Victor Landa, NewsTaco

I didn’t watch the George Zimmerman interview on Univision. Truth be told I hardly watch Univision at all, which is ironic because I worked at a Univision station for nearly a decade. But I was amused at the blow-back generated by the Zimmerman interview. It’s brilliant how media companies as large as Univision have created siloed ecosystems that thrive even on their own garbage.

Here’s how: the interview was a low-hanging-fruit attempt at siphoning energy from controversy. It’s easy to see how the decision to interview George Zimmerman was made. This wasn’t enterprise journalism – a least it doesn’t seem that way. The fact that Zimmerman also appeared on CNN and Fusion is telling; he may have a good agent/PR team.

The calendar also adds context to the story. We’re in the middle of February sweeps, the most important TV ratings period of the year. Thought provoking journalism and serious reporting are suspended across the dial for four weeks and eyeball catching content fills the airwaves. If it weren’t Zimmerman it would have been something or someone else, just as sensational.

And it worked. If not for the adamant online protests against Univision for airing the interview, I wouldn’t have known it existed, and I wouldn’t have searched for it, or clicked on it. And that was the intended outcome, was it not? Especially in light of Univision Comunication’s recent launch of a digial content production house called La Fabrica UCI. It provides content for Univision News and Fusion. I can almost hear the generated clicks.

Having worked in the proverbial sausage factory, I can’t share in the outrage.  Univision interviewed George Zimmerman? It’s the third week of February, of course they interviewed George Zimmerman. This doesn’t excuse Univision for a cheap grab at ratings, neither does it discount the criticism. But this is commercial television. Univision News consistently does solid and relevant journalism. They also consistently behave like a mega media corporation (especially in February).

So I wasn’t surprised, but I was amused. Zimerman’s sad-sack version of his life aroused my curiosity the same way most reality television does – a kind of mesmerizing stupor. Like staring into a void. What’s at the other end of the click doesn’t matter, as long as you click.

But I understand the indignation of the folks who called-out Univision. It’s demeaning on the one hand to go hat-in-hand to the media conglomerates, asking for fair treatment, serious inclusion, and equal reporting of Latinos. And on the other hand see a Latino media behemoth dedicate it’s precious airtime and web-space to George Zimmerman.

It makes you shake your head; then again, it’s February.