Hispanics
Journalistic Practices Are Muting the Voices in Communities of Color

 

It is no secret that the world of journalism has experienced considerable difficulty in recent years with declining audiences. Web-based news networks are major competitors for news audiences, while bloggers have expanded during this time to fill the void by traditional news sources.  In the meantime, a dramatic demographic shift has taken place in the U.S. over the past decade that has added millions of Hispanics, Blacks and Asians – currently numbering 119,505,700 [i] — that are potential audiences with interest in general and culturally relevant news.

Over the past 45 years, I have conducted numerous research studies of multicultural communities throughout the U.S., many which involved their media and consumer behavior, and have also taught survey research methods at several North Texas universities. This experience, coupled with changes in the media landscape and demographic composition of the U.S. population, points to a disturbing pattern that I have observed in news coverage that is muting the voices in communities of color and limiting news stories to a set of predictable topics. As a case in point, I will describe these patterns for the Dallas Morning News, a mainstream newspaper in North Texas, which I have studied in more depth in past years and read on a regular basis. These patterns, however, may describe other media in large urban markets like the City of Dallas.  Although not an exhaustive list, following are some of the disturbing patterns that I observed:

·       A lack of interest in investigating potential bidding and contract irregularities associated with the 2020 Census campaign for Dallas County. According to recent news coverage by Dallas Morning News, concern was raised regarding vendor performance since Census response rates for Dallas County were clearly lagging behind other Texas counties with large populations.

·       A lack of interest in addressing a legacy of supermarket redlining practices that limit the healthy food choices in Black and Hispanic food deserts, especially relevant in the pandemic environment.

·       The practice of excluding Black and Hispanic faculty or experts in news stories that tap their expertise. While not the “usual suspects,” these individuals are present in North Texas and not difficult to identify.

·       A pattern of exclusion of local Hispanic op-ed contributors to the Viewpoints section.  Several years ago, Carolyn Barta – a past Viewpoints Editor at DMN — invited a group of known Hispanic writers (including myself) to submit op-ed pieces to Viewpoints, but acceptance of these submissions dwindled after Ms. Barta’s departure which muted the voices of these Hispanic writers.

·       Coverage of positive stories during Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month have been a common practice, but coverage over the remaining 11 months has generally focused on poverty, immigration, under-achievement, crime patterns, and similar downbeat topics.

·       Careless reporting of crime patterns has sometimes mis-portrayed communities of color as hot crime spots, which discourages economic development in these areas.

·       Rather than focus on economic activity and achievements, business news about the Dallas Hispanic Chamber has generally focused on internal problems that they were experiencing.

·       Books written by Hispanic authors with a scientific or social science focus often escape the attention of journalists — with the possible exception of cookbooks. 

·       In response to the growing presence of Latinos, many mainstream media shops have added Spanish-language publications that are primarily read by Latino immigrants. Unfortunately, Hispanic-focused stories that are placed only in Spanish-language publications become segregated from English-language audiences – reinforcing the continuing segregation that is already evident in housing, education, religious and social areas.

·       Media companies with Spanish-language assets may face tougher times into the future [ii] as the potential audience for Spanish-language media continues to decline.  Indeed, the Census Bureau experts project that, by the year 2060, 46 million native-born Latinos will be added to the U.S.— vastly out-numbering the 7.6 million foreign born Latinos.

 

Going forward, my hope is that journalists and schools of journalism will reflect on these patterns and consider the extent to which they describe their respective practices.  Unless these journalistic patterns change, mainstream media like the Dallas Morning News may become obsolete as a consequence of their reluctance to connect with the changing composition and interests of their audiences. Spanish-language media, on the other hand, may need to re-evaluate their growth strategy into the future.

The Dallas Morning News, and the other major newspapers and media outlets here in North Texas and around the country need to take bold, proactive steps to better reflect and cover communities of color, and clearly needs to intensify its efforts to at least make sure we have a share of the voice as sources and in opinion columns.

 

End Notes


[i]Census Bureau (2020). American Community Survey 2019 One-Year Estimates, accessed at www.data.census.gov.

[ii]Rincon, E. T. (2020, April 01). A perfect storm is facing U.S. supermarkets.  Journal of Marketing Channels.  

CDC Blunders in Excluding Communities of Color Among High Risk Groups for Covid-19

It really makes little sense.  Despite the fact that Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans are being hospitalized and dying at considerably higher rates than whites in the U.S., the Center for Disease Control recently changed its definition of Covid-19 high risk groups to exclude these groups.[i]  Why?  Because they have concluded that the high virus rates are not due to genetics, and they want to avoid stigmatizing these groups as “Covid carriers.”  By taking this action, the CDC can now remove their priority status for the delivery of health services – a disturbing action that suggests the injection of partisan politics.
 Let’s consider the fact that older persons were initially identified among the high-risk groups and remain in that category for good reasons. Indeed, one would not argue that their high-risk status should be changed because they often reside in nursing or retirement homes that have been plagued by the coronavirus. The purpose of identifying key demographic characteristics that are associated with the prevalence of a disease or virus is to target intervention strategies towards such groups as quickly as possible to mitigate the spread of the disease or illness – regardless of the circumstances that created their vulnerability – such as social determinants like comorbidities, living arrangements and working conditions.  

The CDC’s justification for re-defining the high-risk categories – to avoid stigmatizing these groups as “Covid carriers” – is specious.  Communities of color have long been stigmatized in many industries for the wrong reasons, including their skin color, language and many other attributes.  Assigning a high-risk category for Covid-19 is a health-related assessment, not a stigma, and should not be used as a basis for denying health-related services as the CDC is apparently proposing.
What seems plainly obvious is that the Trump administration has forced the hand of the CDC experts once again.  First by re-directing the reporting of Covid-19 hospitalizations from the CDC to the Dept. of Health and Human Services to the great dismay of the national health community.  Secondly, by pressuring the CDC to moderate the perceived risk of attending schools in person despite the increasing infection rates in many communities. And now by re-defining Covid-19 high risk groups with a questionable rationale.
These actions are setting the stage in the U.S. for the unfair distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine once it becomes available, a disturbing scenario that is likely to deprive the vaccine from communities of color and other groups that have been re-defined as lower risk by the CDC. By allowing this new definition of risk by the CDC to continue unchallenged, communities of color can expect a longer period of infections and mortalities from the pandemic, and more limited access to a vaccine once it becomes available.  There is a clear need for strong advocacy from civic, business and community groups that represent communities of color to challenge and correct the direction that the CDC has taken in defining high-risk groups for Covid-19.   
References

[i]Associated Press (2020, July 25). US agency vows steps to address COVID-19 inequalities.  WFAA, accessed at https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-inequalities-cdc/507-a770cfc8-9967-4359-b84d-12684c6aa46f
 

Latino Leadership Development in Dallas: Some Room for Optimism
Much to their credit, Dallas-area academic, business and civic members have embarked upon an ambitious effort to expand the number of Latino leaders that serve this community. Two of these programs reside at Southern Methodist University with similar goals in mind. Part of the rationale for these programs comes from national studies by the Pew Research Center (2013) which showed that two-thirds of Latinos did not know, when asked, who they believed was the most important Hispanic leader in the U.S.; moreover, three-quarters of Latinos believed that a national Hispanic leader was needed to advance the concerns of the U.S. Hispanic community. This national alarm bell, coupled with dismal Latino participation at the local levels, appeared to describe a leadership vacuum in the Latino community that needed some type of intervention.
Latinos, of course, are not leaderless. U.S. Latinos have a long history as inventors, scientists, medical experts, military heroes, news columnists, entertainers, and politicians — they are just not very visible because mainstream media sources choose to overlook their achievements except during cultural holidays.  If the story does not involve crime, immigration, under-achievement or poverty, the likelihood of inclusion in mainstream media diminishes even more rapidly.  
For example, anyone who has lived in the Dallas community for a number of years would have little difficulty in recognizing Latinos that have been on the frontlines of many Latino-related issues. Such names as Adelfa Callejo, Hector Flores, Nina Vaca, Rene Martinez, Domingo Garcia, Marcos Ronquillo, Rafael Anchia, Roberto Alonzo, Tom Lazo, Beatrice Martinez, and Edwin Flores are well-known among Dallas-area Latinos and non-Latinos for their past advocacy efforts related to Latino education, healthcare, immigration, voting rights, business development and other areas.  Media reports may label Latinos as “leaders,” “advocates,” or “activists” – depending on the spin desired by media decision makers. Nonetheless, their role in shaping the quality of life for Latinos is undeniable.
As the traditional pool of “leaders” or “advocates” diminishes, it is clear that new blood is needed to address the many decisions that will influence the quality of life for Latinos in the future. The need for new blood is especially important in communities like Dallas/Fort Worth that are experiencing rapid population growth and need decision-makers with new ideas to address the challenges brought by this growth. In this light, Latino leadership programs have assumed a great responsibility and deserve as much support as possible.   
To that end, following are some questions or discussion points that came to mind as I was envisioning the types of skills that these graduates may need to carry the leadership torch into the future:
What knowledge will these graduates have of Latinos that reside in the U.S. and local communities?  For example, a test of knowledge of Latino culture in the U.S. was recently completed by a non-random sample of 400 Latinos and non-Latinos that represented college students and marketing professionals from the private sector.  The test results revealed that both Latinos and non-Latinos had limited knowledge regarding some basic facts about U.S. Latinos. Interestingly, the results also revealed that Latinos did not score much better than non-Latinos on this test. While not a scientific study, the study results suggest that more effort should be devoted towards expanding knowledge about the Latino population – whether at academic institutions or other training vehicles. Moreover, as Latinos continue to assimilate linguistically and culturally, they may also need a refresher course on important elements of the Latino culture.
What position will graduates take on issues that especially impact Latinos?  The position that a leadership graduate takes on key issues like gun control, abortion, criminal justice, voting rights, racial profiling, the environment, public procurement, and immigration will likely define their appeal in Latino and non-Latino communities. Are graduates being trained to avoid a position on controversial issues or will they be taught how to argue persuasively on behalf of Latino constituents?
Are your public speaking skills ready to be tested?  General public speaking skills are undoubtedly a valued asset; however, Latino leaders will be expected on occasion to address both English and Spanish-speaking audiences.  Since the vast majority of U.S. Latinos do not study Spanish formally, it might be a good idea to encourage our future leaders to brush up on their public speaking skills in both languages.
Will graduates be trained to feel comfortable in using the results of research studies?  In one presentation to a city council regarding the results of a citizen satisfaction survey, a councilman opined:  “If I want to know what people in my community think, I will just talk to them.”  Apparently, the councilman did not understand the bias associated with his recommendation in gathering public opinion. Scientific research can provide valuable insights that supplement one’s perspectives and should be part of the training curriculum for these graduates.
Will non-Latinos be provided the opportunity to develop their leadership skills if their jobs or political aspirations include Latino communities?   It seems like a good investment.  There are already enough non-Latinos in leadership positions that lack knowledge and experience with Latino communities. With our increasingly segregated society, the leadership course may provide the right amount of knowledge and perspective needed by non-Latinos who aspire to become advocates for Latino communities.
Will graduates understand how to utilize the power of the media which has the potential to define their reputation and standing in the minds of Latino and non-Latino audiences?  Markets like Dallas/Fort Worth provide a multitude of communications vehicles to reach diverse audiences, and often conduct public opinion polls to monitor key issues or political campaigns. In such an environment, Latinos who aspire to become visible advocates or “leaders” must understand how to fashion their messages correctly, how the journalism world operates, and the audiences that are served by different communications vehicles.
Lastly, will the collective wisdom of past Latino leaders be used as a bridge to the future for the newly trained leaders? It would be a mistake, in my opinion, to believe that “leadership skills” have little or no connection to the past. Past Latino leaders could be helpful in identifying significant people, organizations or historical events that have proved helpful in past Latino initiatives, as well as those that have been less helpful. The new leadership graduates will no doubt have many new ideas of their own, but history should help them avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
Only time will tell us about the long-term benefits of these Latino leadership initiatives.  If they are successful, Latinos will be in a better position to shape their own destiny and become a more visible partner in key decisions that affect their quality of life.
National Poll on Arizona’s Immigration Law May Be Misleading

A recent national poll released by the Pew Research Center (5-12-10) reported widespread public support of Arizona’s new immigration law — a resounding 73 percent of the survey respondents! Headlines such as these, reinforced by the scientific credibility of an established polling organization, undoubtedly adds more momentum to the call for similar laws in other states.

Is the national mood really that supportive of Arizona’s new immigration law? Not being one to embrace polling results uncritically, I reviewed the study methodology and discovered that the entire survey was conducted in one language: English. Let me explain why this bias seriously limits the usefulness of the poll results.

Having conducted studies of multicultural populations over the past 30 years, I can assure you that two-thirds of Hispanics and 80 percent of Asians prefer to communicate in their native language when provided the choice. When a poll that includes these segments is conducted only in English, the results are predictable: lower response rates, less valid information, and more missing data. More importantly, because these respondents are more likely to be foreign-born, their exclusion from the Pew study has no doubt also inflated the reported level of public support for Arizona’s new law.

One only has to wonder why the Pew Research Center decided to address such a controversial topic in a manner that silenced the very voices that might have shared a different point of view about Arizona’s new immigration law.