One Group, Two Worlds? Latino Perceptions of Policy Salience Among Mainstream and Spanish‐Language News Consumers.

Gomez‐Aguinaga, Barbara

Objective: To examine whether the consumption of Spanish‐language news influences perceptions of issue salience among Latinos, the largest ethnoracial group in the United States. Methods: This mixed‐methods analysis incorporates conceptual content analyses of English and Spanish‐language online newspapers from major Latino metropolitan areas, logistic regressions, and robustness checks to predict the salience of Latino issues. Results: Spanish‐language news media covers immigration to a much greater extent than mainstream media, even within the same geographical locations; as a result, Latinos who consume Spanish‐language news are more likely to report immigration as a salient issue, even after accounting for important predispositions such as nativity and in‐group linked fate. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of Spanish‐language and ethnic media in a growingly diverse country, where ethnoracial groups will soon make up the majority of the country.

UNITED States; SPANISH language; MASS media; ELECTRONIC newspapers; SOCIAL conditions of Hispanic Americans; UNITED States emigration & immigration

Social Science Quarterly (Wiley-Blackwell), 2021, Vol 102, Issue 1, p238

0038-4941

Academic Journal

10.1111/ssqu.12884