The Latino Media Elite Needs Balance
Our English-speaking media were very clear after the 2012 election that the Republican Party was demographically doomed, since all the voters "of color" were shifting toward Obama and the Democrats. They echoed the mantra of GOP moderates, stating the only way to political viability was through "comprehensive immigration reform."
What these analysts did not do was explore the messaging that Hispanic voters are getting from Spanish-language media. Has the conservative message been rejected by Spanish-language voters - or is something being kept from them?
We've seen a disturbing set of reports on how hand-in-glove these Spanish networks seem to be with both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton - not just in news reporting, but in creating "empowerment initiatives" that provide positive images of these Democratic leaders.
The liberal website BuzzFeed recently filed an article titled "Univision Works Overtime To Get Latinos Enrolled In Obamacare." The channel "embarked on their own company-wide effort to get Latinos signed up on the exchanges, working through newscasts, special programming, advertising partnerships, and a dedicated health care website."
Worse, rather than dispute the charge of "working overtime," Univision doubled down. "Empowerment Initiatives" director Stephen Keppel said "We definitely want to give people all the tools they need to get enrolled."
In Politico, Univision spokesman Jose Zamora harped on the same line. "Hispanics are one of the segments of the U.S. population that can benefit the most from the ACA." Further, "When we report and inform on the ACA, as with any of the other issues that matter most to our audience, we are only focused on providing a public service to the Hispanic community, not a service to the Administration."
In
addition to promoting Obamacare enrollment, Univision has also been
pushing an initiative promoting the welfare of young children alongside
Hillary Clinton - which certainly offers positive publicity for the
Democrats' front-runner for 2016. The principal owner of Univision, Haim
Saban, is a major Obama and Clinton donor and told an Israeli newspaper
last fall that he'd "pitch in with full might" to elect President
Hillary, which "is a big dream of mine."
