¿Inglés o Español? The Political effects of Spanish-Language News Consumption

• In Event: Race, Class and Migration

Abstract

This study analyzes the political effects of the consumption of Spanish-language news media among Latinos in the United States. Making use of the 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey and additional survey experiments, I test whether the content coverage, use of Spanish language, and the co-ethnic representation of Latinos as opinion leaders have political effects on the public opinion of Hispanics who consume Spanish-language news media when compared to their co-ethnics who primarily consume English-language news. Through a series of regression and split sample analyses that isolate Latino respondents based on important predispositions (such as group identity and nativity), I find that consuming Spanish-language news media has significant political effects among, including (1) different perceptions of policy saliency that concur with the coverage of the issues from their news sources, (2) greater feelings of shared identity among bilingual Latinos, and higher levels of trust in media among consumers of Spanish-language news when compared to those who primarily consume English-language news. This study provides important implications for political practitioners and the mobilization of the Latino electorate in the current political context.

Author

• Barbara Gomez Aguinaga, University of New Mexico