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Ask ChatGPT how it defines Latino-focused media and the definition it crafts is as follows: “Latino-focused media outlets cater to the interests, culture, and concerns of the Latino community. They often publish content in Spanish and/or English and cover a wide range of topics, including news, entertainment, politics, lifestyle, and more.”
Among the outlets the artificial intelligence tool name checks are Spanish-language giants TelevisaUnivision, Telemundo, and People en Español. Remezcla and Mitú are also listed—both of which cater to a younger audience who primarily consumes content in English and Spanglish.
Traditionally, Latino- or Hispanic-focused media has fallen into two categories: Latino issues in English or Latino issues in Spanish (with Spanglish oftentimes sprinkled in). However, a new market is emerging in the form of a general market Latino consumer. Just take a look at Vogue’s seventy-three questions with Bad Bunny, during his Most Wanted Tour, where the interviewer asks his questions in English and the Spanish-speaking superstar answers in his native tongue. The New York Times expanded its coverage of Texas, which has second-highest Latino population in the United States, according to the Pew Research Center. Plus, Con Pollo, a bilingual children’s book written by Jennifer Lopez and Jimmy Fallon, has been wildly successful as of late.
This explosive growth of Latinos is reshaping the media landscape and bringing mass opportunity for political campaigns to attract the Latino vote. However, the media rules of the past no longer apply in today’s market, as organizations look to mobilize and turnout this key demographic in record numbers.
The Current State of Latino-Focused Storytelling
“Latinos are not just the future, they’re the current moment,” says Adrian Carrasquillo, a national political reporter who covers elections through a Latino lens for general market publications, such as the Guardian, Vanity Fair, and Politico. Carrasquillo continues, citing data from the 2020 United States Census.
“Latinos are one in five Americans and, by 2060, they’re going to be one in four,” Carrasquillo says. “Latinos are not a monolith, and the only way that you can successfully show that is by showing our diversity.”
Today, the focus of the political reporter’s work makes sense given the shift of demographics in the United States. However, Carrasquillo is one of the few journalists who has covered Latinos in politics consistently over an extended period (more than a decade).
“Latino stories and voices are really critical and are part of the American fabric,” says Carrasquillo, who recently covered what consumers have to lose when Latino-focused reporters are deprioritized. “Too often when Latino or Hispanic topics get talked about, it’s that one Latino vote article or one piece about Hispanics being a sliver of the economy. That’s not what America is, and it’s not what it is becoming.”
“Latinos are not just the future, they’re the current moment.”
Adrian Carrasquillo
Republicans versus Democrats
Few Latino Republican operatives exist in this space, Carrasquillo points out. And overall, there is a weariness from the GOP to engage with Latinos over concerns of missteps.
“Republicans don’t need to win with Latinos; they just need to shave off some points [from Democrats] and maybe get a couple more points [for themselves], and they’re in really great shape,” Carrasquillo says. “Democrats have a harder challenge. Latinos have been a part of Democrats’ winning coalitions, so they need Latinos. If Biden Democrats keep dropping, states like Nevada and Arizona come into play. And once you lose the southwest—what operatives call ‘the brown wall’—you’re in trouble.”
Carraquillo points to recent presidential cycles to illustrate his point that Democrats’ grasp on the Latino vote is slipping. One example? President Barack Obama winning the 2012 election with a whopping 71 percent of the Latino vote. The following cycle sees Hillary Clinton’s take drop by five points, with 66 percent of Latino voters voting for her in the 2016 election. By 2020, Joe Biden’s support slips seven points, even though he won his election cycle with 59 percent of the Latino vote.
The pattern Carrasquillo sees emerging from Republicans is to highlight errors Democrats make with their Latino engagement, versus taking proactive steps of their own. There are no GOP records to show how much they’re investing Latino voters. In contrast, Carrasquillo was given the exclusive for Newsweek on the $125 million dollar investment the Biden campaign made in Latino outreach during the 2020 presidential cycle.
“As media gets more fractured, it’s harder to reach people, especially when it’s as diverse as the Latino vote,” Carrasquillo says. “I don’t think people understand the difficulty of what the Biden campaign is trying to do right now to reach Latinos because they’re a moving target. It’s so much more difficult than it used to be, because Latinos are disproportionately younger, which means they’re harder to pin down.”
“This multilingual approach is important because it acknowledges the diversity within the Latino electorate and ensures that we are meeting these voters where they are.”
Adrian Saenz
Language Matters—But Not in the Way You Think
“When Obama had his record numbers of Latinos voting for him, it was pretty easy,” Carrasquillo says. “Back then, you could go to Vegas, where there was a really powerful Univision station there. That’s not the case anymore.”
The days of associating Latinos with a specific language or media outlet are a thing of the past, as we know the Latino vote is not a monolith.
Traditional campaign ads targeting Latinos run in Spanish and hit the airwaves weeks before Election Day. Adrian Saenz, cofounder of Conexión, a Latino-owned political and public affairs agency on contract with the Biden campaign, says that’s changed with this 2024 presidential cycle.
“In August 2023, over a year before the election, we launched the earliest presidential campaign Latino paid media program,” Saenz shares. “The Biden for President Latino voter-focused advertising campaign launched with television, radio, and digital ads in Spanish, English, and Spanglish. Spanish platforms are still key, but bilingual and English-dominant Latino voters are consuming content across a linear and digital landscape that is much more diverse than it was in 2020.”
Saenz says an action like this reverberates outside of a presidential election year. In fact, it sets the tone for campaigns at every level to prioritize certain groups or actions.
“This multilingual approach is important, because it acknowledges the diversity within the Latino electorate and ensures that we are meeting these voters where they are—which is in a much more language agnostic media ecosystem from a consumer standpoint,” Saenz says. “Language agnostic matters, because this cohort of voters are comfortable consuming content of all types in both English and Spanish.”
Past Work Does Not Dictate Future Results
Where we’re heading now is really intriguing. The question is, will all parties see this as an opportunity to reach Latino voters in a respectful manner. Or, will they say they’re hard to understand?
Only time will tell.
