MIAMI – Univision News, a division of Univision Communications Inc., the leading media company serving Hispanic America, announced today that it will host the first-ever “Meet the Candidate” events with the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, to directly address topics of importance to the Hispanic community in Spanish and English. These two events, hosted in partnership with Facebook, will take place leading up to Election Day, with President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney addressing millions of Hispanics expected to cast their vote in November.

Moderated by Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas, the award-winning anchors of Univision’s evening newscast “Noticiero Univision,” these events will take place in front of a live audience. The conversation will focus on education and the future of the Hispanic community. Additionally, in order to generate a meaningful discussion about issues facing the Latino community and its future, Univision will engage audiences via Facebook in advance of these events. This conversation will take place on the Univision Noticias Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/univisionnoticias). Facebook’s election hub, the U.S. Politics on Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/uspolitics), will also highlight the upcoming events.

Both candidates have confirmed their participation. Details of the two events with President Obama and Governor Romney will be announced in the upcoming weeks.

“These events speak to President Obama and Governor Romney recognizing the important role Hispanic America will play in the elections and in defining the future of our country,” said Univision News President Isaac Lee. “In our role of informing and empowering our audience, and as part of Univision’s 50-year relationship with this community, these conversations are critically important to the community we serve. This important discussion is increasingly taking place on Facebook and we are excited to utilize the world’s largest social network to get people involved with issues that matter most to them.”

Univision News will be covering the U.S. election from all angles, and on all platforms – including broadcast and cable television, radio, online and mobile – with extensive outreach via Facebook and other social platforms. This includes the Republican National Convention from August 27-30, the Democratic National Convention from September 4-6 and Election Day on November 6.  More information on coverage plans will be announced in the coming weeks. 

These events are the latest in a series of programming initiatives from Univision News in the lead up to the 2012 elections. It recently announced a partnership with YouTube to provide election coverage via the YouTube Elections Hub (youtube.com/politics) and will be utilizing Twitter (@Uninoticias @UniPolitica and @UnivisionNews) as well as Tumblr (UnivisionNews.tumblr.com).