US Spanish Speakers Lack Independent News Sources to Make Informed Voting Decisions

New research about Spanish speakers in the United States released Thursday by Free Press said that “Spanish speakers in the United States are even more likely than others to feel they do not have enough independent news sources to make informed voting decisions,” according to a release about the study.

“The poll indicates that daily Spanish speakers are more likely to experience the negative impacts of online misinformation, affirming years of research that finds Latinos are ripe targets for bad actors,” the release said.

Here are other findings from the Free Press release:

• Daily Spanish speakers spend more time online, more time using social media and less time watching traditional TV compared to other U.S. adults.

• Daily Spanish speakers are more likely to report “very often” sharing or receiving news-article links compared to other U.S. adults.

• Daily Spanish speakers are more frequent users of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter/X and YouTube for news.

• Despite their higher levels of engagement with online news, daily Spanish speakers are more likely to say they don’t feel informed about local elections.

“Our poll’s findings must serve as an urgent call to action for social-media companies, news outlets and governments to ensure that the country’s Spanish-speaking population can afford access to the reliable civic news and information they need,” Free Press Co-CEO Jessica J. González said. “Latinos are the second-largest segment of the electorate. With the recent chaos of the campaigns, platforms must move quickly to restore integrity to the information shared on their platforms in Spanish.”

A recent Pew Research analysis of Latinos and media consumption noted that 21% of U.S. Latinos mostly get their news in Spanish. In 2023, Pew estimated that nearly 40 million U.S. Latinos speak Spanish at home.

To access the complete Free Press poll, click here.

Al Madrigal Leads ‘Stop the Dis’ Campaign

Speaking about Latinos and misinformation, the very funny Al Madrigal is heading up a new “Stop the Dis” campaign with LatiNation, Caló News and the Latino Media Collaborative. Madrigal and the organizations shared news of the campaign on Thursday. You can learn more at StopTheDis.com.

CHC Chair Says Harris Is No ‘Border Czar’

With House Republicans issuing a Thursday resolution that “condemns” Vice President Kamala Harris for her “border czar” actions under the Biden Administration (six Democrats voted with the GOP), Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair (CHC) Rep. Nanette D. Barragán (D-CA) spoke on the House floor to say that using “border czar” language was not accurate at all.

The CHC also issued a Thursday Fact Sheet email about what it says is “Border Czar Dis-Misinformation.”

Still, expect the Trump campaign to play up the “border czar” talk, and we will not be surprised if we see a lot of the following 2021 clip from Harris.

What We’re Reading Today

NYTimes: Harris Gains With Latinos: From Thursday’s New York Times about the latest NYTimes/Siena voter survey: “The poll showed Ms. Harris garnering about 60 percent support from voters under 30 and Hispanic voters, groups Mr. Biden had consistently struggled with.” (Story here)

Harris and Young Latino Voters: Our friends at NBC Latino published a very thorough piece about Harris and the challenges her campaign might face with young Latino voters. (Story here)

Happy weekend. The Latino Newsletter will be back on Monday. And yes, we will be filing from Caracas, Venezuela next week.