NBC Latino, whose tagline read "The Voice of American Hispanics," quietly closed its doors last Friday. NBC announced the sudden closure of the Latino-centric site last November. The large-scale site was often praised for offering Latino-focused news, providing access to larger audiences to Latino-themed information, and drawing massive amounts of Latino readers/viewers. Many in the Latino community objected to the decision, though there were no actions taken to push NBC to reconsider.

NBCLatino.com, a mere 16 months old, was one of the first major Latino-themed news sites to develop after Latinos were identified as the fastest growing population. The news platform offered informed coverage for bicultural Latinos, often addressed the positives of the community, reported the educational status of Latinos, and provided premier series such as Latina Leaders, a weekly column by Kristina Puga.

NBC indicated that it would incorporate more Latino news into its mainstream news coverage, promising to deliver more posts concerning Latinos' health, lifestyle, and politics but this doesn't please those who prefer exclusive Latino coverage on a single site, seeing Latino sites as a platform to showcase the variety of issues that Latinos care for, rather than a handful of oddly selected stories that barely scratch the surface.

Those who were saddened by the network's decision stated that the NBC Latino's focus on Latinos meant that "Latinos, in essence, [controlled] the conversation." Reporters and editors "of color" were considered and utilized in order to discover newsworthy topics for Latino communities. Whether NBC Latino was a failed experiment or an opportunity to test for improved coverage of Latinos, the reason behind the closure has yet to be disclosed.

Media segregation is being assessed; and, questioned as to whether it is or isn't a strong business model. Presumably it is, when one considers magazines such as Latina geared solely to Latina women, and Essence and Jet, which has a concrete African American audience. Online news sites such as Latin Post, Lossip, and Latina Lista offer a database of useful news and entertainment news for Latino Americans/Latin Americans. These publications provide a one stop destination for information regarding Latinos -- disabling a need to scour through news sites and for an honorable mention. Also, networks have developed to solely address the Latino community. Fusion, a joint venture between ABC and Univision, is the first English-language cable network that addresses younger Latino viewers.

However, some respectfully disagree. New Latina's Angélica Pérez-Litwin specified that Latino domains are appreciated, but unnecessary. As a bicultural/millennial Latina born in the states, she believes that news should not be constructed around a single aspect her "multifaceted life." She continued on, stating that segregating news and stories into their own sections was a "futile" act, particularly regarding Latinos, because Latinos are presently influencing the nation's evolution because of its population and voice, therefore Latinos belong at the core of mainstream culture.