Posts Tagged: voters
Fox News Latino poll: 79% of Latinos prefer to get their news in English
The theory has always been that the best way to tap into the fast-growing segment of the population, with its $1.3 trillion spending power and increasing political influence, was to do so in its native language.
But a new poll by Fox News Latino turns that theory on its head.
When asked in what language they prefer to get their news, 79 percent of registered Latino voters said they preferred their news in English.
“I'm not incredibly surprised. It reflects a demographic shift as second-, third- and even fourth-generation Latinos, who identify with their culture, but English is their dominant language,” Jessica J. Gonzalez, executive vice president and general counsel of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, told Fox News Latino.
The poll surveyed 803 registered Latino voters nationwide between Aug. 7 and 10. The poll, which has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, was conducted under the direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R).
“This is why our agency has been focused on infusing more people of color into Latino media for years. For a long time, there's been an assumption that all Latinos have been watching news in Spanish,” Gonzalez added.
Following the trend, Univision, which began in 1962 as a Spanish-language news channel, launched Univision News this year with news targeting “English-dominant” Latinos.
In 2010, Fox News Latino launched a ground-breaking website appealing to second- and third-generation Hispanics with national news in English. Fox News Latino launched to fill a gap in the media for Latinos looking for news about their community in English.
According to the Pew Research Center, 62 percent of Hispanics speak primarily English or are bilingual.
"When I was growing up, speaking Spanish was something that people didn't do,” Mark Hugo Lopez at the Pew Research Center told Univision. “People were trying to run away from all those things that were Mexican.”
Aly Col?n, John S. and James L. Knight Professor of Media Ethics at Washington and Lee University in Virginia, said that when you compare Univision with its main Spanish-language rival, Telemundo, you see that Univision is looking more toward an English-oriented audience, which means a younger and more affluent group. In comparison, he said, Spanish-language network Telemundo is looking to reach more recent immigrants from Latin America.
“The news media looks at [their audiences] as one thing, but really it's multiple things. But depending on how they view their audience will determine whether it's in English or Spanish,” Col?n told Fox News Latino.
Gonzalez said she believes the lack of newsroom diversity is the true missed opportunity.
“If you're not serving your audience, they're not going to watch,” Gonzalez said. “At a conference of ours recently, [ABC News correspondent] John Quiñones talked about how he was able to gather news as a Latino that his non-Latino peers could not – because the community was comfortable with him and he was comfortable in the community.”
Source: Published originally on Fox News Latino, Fox News Latino poll: 79% of Latinos prefer to get their news in English, by Rebekah Sager, August 15, 2016
The nation’s Latino population is defined by its youth
Hispanics are the youngest major racial or ethnic group in the United States. About one-third, or 17.9 million, of the nation's Hispanic population is younger than 18, and about a quarter, or 14.6 million, of all Hispanics are Millennials (ages 18 to 33 in 2014), according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. Altogether, nearly six-in-ten Hispanics are Millennials or younger.
By comparison, half of the black population and 46% of the U.S. Asian population are Millennials or younger. Among whites, the nation's oldest racial group, only about four-in-ten are Millennials or younger (39%).
The nation's Latino population has long been one of its youngest. In 2014, the most recent year for which data are available, the median age of Hispanics – 28 years – was well below that of the major racial groups and has been so since at least the 1980s. But as with the nation's population overall, the Hispanic population's median age has steadily risen since the 1980s, from 22 then to 28 in 2014, a significant change though still the smallest increase in median age among any major racial or ethnic group during that time period. For example, the median age among whites was 43 in 2014, up 12 years since 1980. Among Asians, the median age in 2014 was 36, up eight years since 1980. And for blacks, the median age has risen nine years since 1980 to 33 in 2014.
Looked at another way, the share of the Hispanic population under the age of 18 has decreased somewhat since 1980. Back in 1980, 40% of the nation's 14.8 million Latinos were under age 18, while among white non-Hispanics, that share was 26%. In 1990, 35% of the then 21.8 million Latinos living in the U.S. were under 18. That share remained stable through 2000, but had dropped to 32% as of 2014. Meanwhile, among whites, the share under age 18 stood at 19% in 2014.
For the nation's Hispanic population, youth is a defining characteristic. For example, among Hispanic eligible voters, 44% are Millennial Hispanics – the single largest cohort of Hispanic eligible voters. And among the nation's Millennials, Hispanics are a greater share than they are among all American adults – Hispanics make up 21% of all U.S. Millennials versus 15% of all adults in 2014.
Within the Hispanic adult population, Millennials stand out in a number of ways from older Hispanics, according to the Pew Research Center analysis. Millennials are currently much less likely to be immigrants and are more likely to speak English proficiently. They are also more likely than older generations to be of Mexican origin, reflecting the youth of the Mexican-origin population in the U.S.
Read the complete report here.
Source: Pew Hispanic Research Center, The Nation's Latino Population Is Defined by Its Youth, by Eileen Patten, April 20, 2016.
Why U.S. Latinos Are Difficult to Poll
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It is not easy to accurately poll any population, but Latinos in the U.S. appear to pose specific challenges. “There is an art and a science to polling in Latino communities,” says Lourdes Torres, the director of special projects at Univision. There seem to be three major obstacles to effectively polling this fast-growing voting population (66,000 Latinos becoming eligible to vote every month).
First, there's language. Nearly three-quarters of Latino Americans report that they speak either only Spanish or a combination of Spanish and English at home. Simply having a direct translation of the survey questions is not enough, according a recent report by The Pew Research Center. Survey translations must take cultural differences and language nuances into account, so that all respondents will understand the questions in the same way.
For example, the question: “Do you talk about the campaign with people in your family?” would not fare well with a literal translation, says Courtney Kennedy, the director of survey research at Pew. “In the Spanish language, ‘family' tends to include more extended relationships, whereas in the English language when you say family people generally interpret that as immediate family, people that live in your household,” she says. “So you could get a systematically different answer for that type of question for Spanish speaking respondents versus English, just because that concept of family is different,” she says.
Sometimes, language barriers stop potential respondents from even picking up the phone. “If you receive a phone call from a number you don't know, and you don't speak the predominate language of the country, the likelihood of you picking up is relatively low,” explains Jeff Horwitt, the senior vice president of Hart Research, a D.C.-based polling firm, at a recent discussion at Columbia University. Adding to this, for Latino Americans who come from countries such as Cuba or El Salvador where freedom of expression is not a political right, the idea of polling may not feel safe. Adapting to this cultural norm in the United States takes time, Horwitt said.
Another factor is technology. Traditionally, pollsters relied on landlines. It costs more to poll cellphone numbers due to the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits calling cellphones by automatic dialers—an efficient method for pollsters—and so, each number must be dialed manually, adding significantly to the time and cost of conducting a poll.
The proportion of adults who live in cellphone-only households has been steadily rising across the country, but more so in Latino-headed households. As of December 2014, about 45 percent of all American adults lived in cellphone-only households, whereas close to 60 percent of Latino adults did, according to stats from the U.S Department of Health and Human Services. This is due to several factors, including the higher percentage of Millennial Latinos and recent immigrants who tend to have land lines less frequently. “If you're not including the right percentage of cellphone-only respondents, you're not getting the right picture,” says Micah Roberts, the vice president of Public Opinion Strategies, another D.C.-based polling firm.
Luckily, more and more polling companies are realizing that it is imperative to include cellphones in order to conduct an accurate poll, and are paying the extra cost. Pew, for example, updates the percentage of cellphone numbers included annually based on federal cellphone-use data. Currently, for national surveys, three-quarters of their calls are to cellphones, Kennedy said.
Lastly, there's the level of political participation. To have an accurate voter poll, it's important to know if your respondents will actually be voting. “Our participation tends to be lower than African Americans and whites, so sometimes it takes extra calls to find that likely voter,” says Luis Miranda Jr., the managing partner at MirRam Group, a consulting company focused on minority populations. He noted that Americans in general have a low turnout rate, particularly young Americans, but political disenfranchisement is particularly pronounced in the Latino community.
He said that it's important for pollsters to invest in sample lists that include political histories, not just voter registration status. This is a different type of polling than random dialing, but both are used by pollsters. These types of rolls are notoriously inaccurate, but have become much better in recent years, said Torres of Univision. “It has been a little surprising how much disconnect there is to the Latino community by mainstream pollsters, and to the cultural nuances that require different polling approaches,” she says.
Source: Published originally on TheAtlantic.com as Why U.S. Latinos Are Difficult to Poll by Maura Ewing, February 8, 2016.
New Yahoo survey shows blacks, Hispanics see tech as a more positive force in politics than whites do
Minorities in America believe technology has had a far more positive impact on politics and the cultural conversation than do white Americans, according to a Yahoo News survey conducted by the Harris Poll. Blacks, Hispanics and Asians all feel the Internet and social media have made the American political debate more representative of the whole country and have increased the ability of voters to be informed about candidates for office and policy issues.
African-Americans, in particular, are more optimistic about the future of the country than all other ethnic groups, the online survey of 5,188 registered voters found, and their hopefulness transfers to their view of a fractured, often chaotic media landscape. The survey was conducted ahead of Yahoo's first conference on politics and technology, Digital Democracy, at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Nov. 12.
One of the most profound gaps between whites and minorities is on the question of the country's future. Whites are the most pessimistic, with 71 percent seeing the U.S. “going off on the wrong track,” compared with just 41 percent of blacks. A majority of Hispanics and Asians think the country is headed in the wrong direction, at 54 and 55 percent, respectively. But in contrast, a majority of African-Americans, 59 percent, think the U.S. is “going in the right direction.”
These numbers were put into further perspective by a groundbreaking study from two Princeton University researchers this month that showed it has been a difficult decade and a half for white Americans across the country. The death rate among middle-aged whites of all education levels spiked starting around 1999, largely caused by increases in drug and alcohol abuse, drug and alcohol overdoses and suicides, the study found. At the same time, the mortality rate among blacks and Hispanics has been dropping, and no other comparable increase in deaths among a demographic group has occurred in any other major industrialized country.
The rise of mobile technology, in particular, may be adding to the optimism and sense of empowerment among marginalized communities. In the past year or two, the problem of police brutality against African-American men has been brought to light by amateur videos captured on mobile phones. Activism and protests have been organized and amplified by social media networks like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and presidential candidates have been forced to respond to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Correspondingly, there are major differences in how ethnic groups feel about whether technology has empowered new voices in the political debate. Three out of four African-Americans and Latinos (74 percent and 73 percent, respectively) and two out of three Asians (69 percent) believe the Web and social media have “made political discussion more representative of what Americans really think.”
Only three out of five Caucasians (60 percent) agree with that statement. In all categories, in fact, whites are more skeptical of the raucous social media environment than minorities.
More precisely, 55 percent of African-Americans think the Internet and social media have made minority voters “more influential,” compared with just 45 percent of whites, 51 percent of Hispanics and 43 percent of Asians.
Asians are the group that feels most strongly that tech has made politics “more inclusive,” at 78 percent, compared with 77 percent of blacks, 72 percent of Hispanics and 67 percent of whites.
Hispanics are in between, with 66 percent believing it's easier to find the truth about an issue or a candidate, and 63 percent holding a view that there is more transparency.
Nearly three out of five white voters (57 percent) think social media has made politics more negative, while only two out of five African-Americans (41 percent) share this view. Latinos and Asians are in the middle on this question, at 50 percent each.
On all these questions, there are higher levels of optimism among younger, urban, low-income voters than among those who are over 30, rural and suburban, and those with higher incomes.
And minorities have higher hopes for the possibility of engaging with political candidates electronically than whites do.
Hispanics scored high on this question of engagement. At 30 percent, they were most likely to view a presidential candidate's picture on social media, to watch his video or read his blog. Hispanics, in fact, scored the highest in most categories of online engagement as well as offline civic involvement. They reported the highest levels of posting on social media about current events (26 percent), attending a public meeting on school or town affairs (19 percent), attending a political rally, speech or organized protest (10 percent) or writing letters to newspapers or calling a radio show (8 percent).
And yet most voters have a limited view of the reach of their own influence as individuals, even with the advent of social media. Of all ethnic groups, Hispanic voters are the most positive on this, and yet fewer than one in four of them (23 percent) believes that technology has given them more of a voice in politics, compared with 21 percent of African-Americans, 18 percent of whites and 15 percent of Asians.
White Americans are more skeptical of information they see online. Nearly half (45 percent) think it's difficult to know whom to trust because every news organization has a bias. Fewer than one in three blacks (29 percent) agrees with that, as do 34 percent of Latinos and 32 percent of Asians.
But two out of three voters (69 percent) think that candidates who don't master social media risk losing control of their message.
The federal government is viewed as being on the cutting edge of technology by almost half of African-Americans (45 percent) and a third of Hispanics (36 percent), but only one in five Caucasians and Asians (22 percent) agrees.
All groups are united in their skepticism that the government is able to protect their personal information from hacking, but blacks give the feds the most benefit of the doubt. Nearly one in five (17 percent) thinks their information would be safe from hackers if the government were tasked with protecting it, compared with just 8 percent of whites, 14 percent of Hispanics and 12 percent of Asians.
There is a generational divide here as well. Older voters are more skeptical of the government's ability to protect information than younger voters are, and they are also the most concerned about the issue.
And on cybersecurity, two out of five millennial voters are surprisingly optimistic that the U.S. government and corporate sector are well prepared for a cyberattack, despite abundant evidence to the contrary. Concerns about cybersecurity vulnerability are much higher for all other age groups. Almost half of African-Americans (46 percent) think the government and corporate sector are well prepared for cyberattacks, while that number is about 20 percent for whites. A third of Hispanics and Asians think the government and private sector are prepared for cyberwarfare.
Source: Published originally on Yahoo.com as New Yahoo survey shows blacks, Hispanics see tech as a more positive force in politics than whites do by Jon Ward, November 12, 2015.
Latinos support conservation issues
"This report provides definitive proof to what we've seen across the country – there is a significant, growing Latino movement that is advocating for greater environmental protections of our parks and public lands and is willing to support candidates that share that same value," said Maite Arce, president and CEO of Hispanic Access Foundation. "The Latino population is the fastest growing segment in the country — their engagement in conservation is critical and could have a far-reaching impact."
Additional findings include:
- When it comes to policy priorities, water and air pollution are especially important to the overwhelming majority of Latino voters.
- Looking at Latino attitudes on a range of conservation matters, conservation is viewed as essential to a better quality of life.
- There is ample evidence Latinos in the West and Southwest have strong ties to the region and regularly partake in outdoor activities, all of which serve to sharpen interest in conservation and clean air and water.
- Latino voters believe individuals and governments have important roles in protecting natural resources and promoting healthy, clean communities.
- Latinos prefer policies and candidates that actively promote a cleaner environment and preserving public lands. They are more likely to vote for candidates based on their environmental positions.
"Clean air and water, preserving public lands, climate change and promoting clean energy solutions are all matters of concern for this rapidly growing electorate," said Dr. Adrian Pantoja, Senior Analyst for Latino Decisions and Professor of Political Studies at Pitzer College in Claremont, California. "Decision makers and advocates with national and regional constituencies will need to demonstrate their attention to these concerns and policy preferences as the Latino population and electorate continues to grow into the foreseeable future."
"We know that regardless of the issue, Latinos, like most Americans, will seek policy approaches that better the quality of life for them, their families, and their community," said Leo Murrieta, National Field Director of Mi Familia Vota. "From immigration reform to conservation, Latinos want candidates and elected officials who will best represent the issues they care about and will do so by promoting laws that will treat our community with dignity and respect. Ensuring that our families have access to clean air and water, cleaner environments, and preservation of outdoor recreational areas will continue to be important to Latino voters across the nation."
"When you recognize how many aspects of our lives are affected by the environment, it's not surprising that Latinos are so passionate about conservation," said Arce. "The outdoors provides a connection to their cultural heritage. Recreation, tourism and farming provide employment and financial security to many. Getting outdoors and experiencing nature benefits the physical and mental wellness of youth and adults. And unfortunately, Latinos are much more likely to suffer negative health issues due to environmental hazards," said Arce.
Source: Hispanic Access Foundation, New Report Shows Overwhelming Latino Support for Conservation, Underscores Potential Impact on Mid-term Elections in Western States, August 20, 2014.