The Politics of Spanish-Language Media Consumption among Latinos: Perceptions of Immigration Reform and Terrorism
Start Date
8-11-2017 8:30 AM
End Date
8-11-2017 12:30 PM
Abstract
This study analyzes the effects of Spanish-language media consumption in public opinion among Latinos residing in the United States. More specifically, this study explores whether consuming Spanish-language news has a statistically significant relationship with Latino perceptions regarding the most important policy issue that the government should address. I make use of the 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey (CMPS), which contains an oversample of Latinos (N= 3,003 Latinos) and was conducted in both English and Spanish. Through a contingency table analysis and a series of logistic regressions, I find that non-Hispanic Whites and Latinos share two most important policy issues (health care and job creation/economy), but Latinos are concerned with other policy issues such as income and immigration reform. More importantly, I find that there is a significant relationship between the levels of Spanish media consumption and agenda setting. I find that Latinos who consume more Spanish-language news are significantly more likely to report immigration reform as one of the most important policy issues that the government should address, even after accounting for group identity and nativity. Inversely, Latinos who consume predominantly English-language news are significantly more likely to report terrorism as the most important policy issue when compared to their Latino counterparts who consume Spanish-language news. This study reconciles two gaps in the literature of political communication –one dealing with agenda setting, particularly first-level agenda setting, and the other dealing with the growing study of ethnic media and its effects on ethno-racial groups.
The Politics of Spanish-Language Media Consumption among Latinos: Perceptions of Immigration Reform and Terrorism
This study analyzes the effects of Spanish-language media consumption in public opinion among Latinos residing in the United States. More specifically, this study explores whether consuming Spanish-language news has a statistically significant relationship with Latino perceptions regarding the most important policy issue that the government should address. I make use of the 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey (CMPS), which contains an oversample of Latinos (N= 3,003 Latinos) and was conducted in both English and Spanish. Through a contingency table analysis and a series of logistic regressions, I find that non-Hispanic Whites and Latinos share two most important policy issues (health care and job creation/economy), but Latinos are concerned with other policy issues such as income and immigration reform. More importantly, I find that there is a significant relationship between the levels of Spanish media consumption and agenda setting. I find that Latinos who consume more Spanish-language news are significantly more likely to report immigration reform as one of the most important policy issues that the government should address, even after accounting for group identity and nativity. Inversely, Latinos who consume predominantly English-language news are significantly more likely to report terrorism as the most important policy issue when compared to their Latino counterparts who consume Spanish-language news. This study reconciles two gaps in the literature of political communication –one dealing with agenda setting, particularly first-level agenda setting, and the other dealing with the growing study of ethnic media and its effects on ethno-racial groups.
