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A2 UP FRONT
Tuesday 9 april 2024

Latino voters are coveted by both major parties

Continued from Front Spanish language media
to combat misinformation
Latinos have grown at the and disinformation," he said.
second-fastest rate, behind "And I think serving as a re-
Asian Americans, of any ma- source and a trusted source
jor racial and ethnic group within the Latino community
in the U.S. since the last pres- that has already built those
idential election, according relationships, that trust will
to a Pew Research Center go a long way."
analysis, and are projected A variety of other commu-
to account for 14.7%, or 36.2 nity and media groups also
million, of all eligible voters are prioritizing the seemingly
in November, a new high. never-ending fight against
They are a growing share misinformation.
of the electorate in several Maritza Félix often fact-
presidential and congres- checked misinformation for
sional battleground states, her mother, whom she calls
including Arizona, California the "Queen of WhatsApp."
and Nevada, and are being This led to Félix doing the
heavily courted by Republi- same for family and friends
cans and Democrats. in a WhatsApp group that
Democratic President Joe grew into the Spanish news
Biden has credited Latino nonprofit Conecta Arizona.
voters as a key reason Staff members Michael Ruiz, left, and Marisol Moraga participate in a phone bank event at La It now runs a radio show
he defeated Republican Campesina, a Spanish-language radio network in Phoenix, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. and newsletter that de-
Associated Press
Donald Trump in 2020 and bunks false claims about
is urging them to help him polling sites. Mercado and others said phone bank event to an- election processes, health,
do it again in November. Other narratives are more that's why trusted mes- swer voter questions. immigration and border
Given the high stakes of a closely tailored to Latino sengers, such as Radio "We know that there are politics. Conecta Arizona
presidential election year, communities, including false Campesina, are so impor- many people who are un- also combats misinforma-
experts expect a surge of information about immigra- tant. The station was found- motivated because some- tion about the upcoming
misinformation, especially tion, inflation and abor- ed by Mexican American times we come from coun- Mexican presidential elec-
through audio and video, tion rights, often exploiting labor and civil rights leader tries where, when it comes tion that Félix said has been
targeting Spanish-speaking the traumas and fears of César Chavez and has built to elections, we don't trust seeping over the border.
voters. "Latinos have im- specific communities. For a loyal listening base over the vote," said Carolina Jeronimo Cortina, associate
mense voting power and example, Spanish speak- decades. At any given mo- Rodriguez-Greer, Arizona professor of political science
can make a decisive differ- ers who have immigrated ment, as many as 750,000 director of Mi Familia Vota, at the University of Houston,
ence in elections, yet they from countries with recent people are listening to the before she shared infor- tracks broad misinformation
are an under-messaged, histories of authoritarianism, Chavez Radio Network on mation on the show about narratives aimed at Span-
under-prioritized audience," socialism, high inflation and the air and online, Barquín how voters can track their ish-speaking communities
said Arturo Vargas, CEO of election fraud may be more said. "They will come and ballots. across the country but also
NALEO Educational Fund, vulnerable to misinformation listen to us because of the The organization began localized content targeting
a national nonprofit en- about those topics. music, but our main focus is working with Spanish media the state's rapidly growing
couraging Latino civic par- Misinformation on the air- to empower and educate outlets to dispel misinforma- Latino electorate. That in-
ticipation. "Our vote has an waves also is particularly dif- through information," she tion after seeing candidates cludes misinformation about
impact. These bad actors ficult to track and combat said. "The music is just a tac- such as former Arizona gu- candidates' clean energy
know this, and one way to compared with more tradi- tic to bring them in." bernatorial candidate Kari policies taking away jobs in
influence the Latino vote is tional, text-based misinfor- Radio Campesina's on-air Lake spread election lies in Texas' oil and gas industries
to misinform." mation, said Daiquiri Ryan talent and musical guests 2022, Rodriguez-Greer said. and about migrants flood-
In addition to radio, much Mercado, strategic legal often discuss misinforma- Lake is now running for the ing over the border.
of the news and information adviser and policy counsel tion on air, answering listen- U.S. Senate with Trump's en- "You won't see the same
Latinos consume is audio- for the National Hispanic ers' questions about voting, dorsement. content targeting Latinos in
based through podcasts or Media Coalition, which runs teaching them about spot- "One way to combat this Texas compared to Latinos
on social media platforms the Spanish Language Dis- ting misinformation and misinformation is to fill the in Iowa," he said.
such as Facebook, What- information Coalition. While doing tutorials on election airways with good informa- This has led to a wider uni-
sApp and YouTube. Con- misinformation researchers processes such as how to tion," said Angelica Razo, verse of groups tackling
tent moderation efforts in can more easily code pro- submit mail-in ballots. The national deputy director of misinformation aimed at
Spanish are limited on these grams to categorize and station also has hosted ro- campaigns and programs Latinos. NALEO Educational
platforms, which are seeing track text-based misinfor- deos and music events to for Mi Familia Vota. Fund's Defiende La Verdad
a rising number of right-wing mation, audio often requires register new voters and talk In Tempe, Brian Garcia campaign monitors misin-
influencers peddling elec- manual listening. Radio sta- about misinformation. tunes into Radio Campesina formation and and trains
tion falsehoods and QAnon tions that air only in certain They allow listeners to call on drives to work. When he community leaders to spot
conspiracy theories. areas at certain times also or text questions on What- was growing up, the station it. In Florida, the We Are Más
The types of misinformation can be difficult to track. sApp, a social media plat- played as his dad cooked podcast combats Spanish-
overlap with falsehoods "When we have such limit- form especially popular with dinner and his family gath- language misinformation
readily found in other con- ed representation, Spanish immigrant communities but ered around the table. It nationally and locally, said
servative media and many speakers feel like they can where much of the misin- was a staple for his family, its founder Evelyn Pérez-
corners of the internet — connect to these people, formation they see festers. he said, and he's excited Verdía. Jolt Action, a Texas
conspiracy theories about and they become trusted In March, the station part- about its efforts to tackle Latino advocacy group,
mail voting, dead people messengers," Mercado said. nered with Mi Familia Vota, election misinformation. registers new voters and
casting ballots, rigged vot- "But some people may take a Latino advocacy group, "There aren't many organi- helps them make sense of
ing machines and threats at advantage of that trust." for an on-air show and voter zations or folks that go onto misinformation.q