When Univision decided to rehire Daniel Coronell as president of Univision’s news division, we harshly criticized the move as the dog returning to its vomit. It appears that the dog has decided to vomit again.
Per corporate parent TelevisaUnivision’s press release:
TelevisaUnivision, the leading Spanish-language media and content company in the world, informs that, after more than 2 years heading Univision News, Daniel Coronell will step down as president of Univision News by mutual agreement on the 31st of the current month.
The “mutual agreement” language betrays the rumored firing as reported across several outlets. Why now? Multiple sources report, among other reasons, that there were concerns that Univision’s news division was still strongly biased in favor of Democrats and against President Donald Trump. This should surprise no one. As I said after the network’s 2023 interview of the then-former President Trump:
The interview happened because Televisa wanted it to happen, for reasons that are not yet clear to me. I have some friends who are furious over this interview while others are over the moon. I’m not ready to accept what I just saw at face value, and I am left with more questions than answers. But my gut tells me this is a one-time op and that Univision will continue to favor both the leftwing policy pupu platter and the Democrats that want to enact it. I remain suspicious.
One thing to watch for going forward: will Trump (or Republicans in general) begin to garner different coverage on Univision, or is this a one-off for both Trump and Univision?
The interview turned out to be a one-off. Univision’s news coverage is not substantially different from what it was a few years ago. But with Jorge Ramos gone, the news coverage is far less strident in terms of tone.
Coronell, one of the co-architects of Univision’s descent into corporate immigration advocacy status, was originally fired when the merger with Mexican parent Televisa was complete. At the time, we thought that the network’s new arrangement, with Jorge Ramos made a direct-reporting Special Editorial Advisor to the CEO, would not hold. We wrote:
Time will tell whether this is a gesture aimed at creating a soft landing for Ramos at, say, CNN; or whether he has actual power, in which case, the incoming head of news is constrained before fully putting his stamp on the division. Either way, this arrangement is not sustainable beyond the short term.
Spoiler: it didn’t. Ramos was famously let go at the end of last year, and now Coronell follows him out the door.
Replacing Coronell as President of News: his original successor, Leopoldo Gómez. We wish him all the best as he continues to enact much-needed reforms at Univision.
