Snapshot USA - Reaching Latino Audiences

(Volume 1, Issue 2)

More than 46 million Latinos live in the United States – a growing part of the population that has increasing influence and impact on American culture, politics and media.

What follows is a summary of changing demographics, public opinion research and media trends about this constituency. The “to go” section includes a short list of recommendations on how to effectively target Latino audiences.

DEMOGRAPHICS      Latinos represent half of the population growth in the United States since 2000.

•    Latinos make up 15% of the U.S. population - the largest minority group in the nation.

•    Nearly half of America’s Hispanic residents live in California and Texas.  Other large Hispanic communities are in Florida, New York, Illinois, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico.  

Table 1. Percentage of Hispanic residents in western states

New Mexico    43.4%

California    35.2%

Arizona    29%

Nevada    23.5%

Colorado    19.5%

Utah    10.9%

Oregon    9.9%

Idaho    9.1%

Washington    8.8%

Wyoming    6.7%

Montana    2.4%

Source: US Census, State and County Quick Facts  

•    From 2000 to 2005, Nevada and Idaho’s Hispanic populations had the highest growth rate in the West (43% and 39% respectively).  Oregon and Washington’s Hispanic populations are expected to grow by 45% by 2025.

•    About 93% of Hispanics live in metropolitan areas.  But recent growth has been strong outside of cities too: between 2000 and 2006, the Hispanic population in small towns and rural counties grew by 22% to 3.2 million.

•    By 2050, nearly one in four Americans will be Hispanic or Latino.

•    One in ten U.S. household residents who are age five and older speak Spanish (31 million people).  

•    Only 25% of Latino immigrants report that they speak English fluently, but their U.S.-born children are fluent English speakers. Most Latino voters speak English only or are bilingual. ,  

•    The median age of Latinos in the United States is 27 -- much lower than the median age for whites, which is 40.  

•    Latinos comprise about 9% of the eligible electorate nationwide - many Latinos are not eligible to vote either because they are not citizens or not yet 18 years old. However, Latinos constitute a sizable share of the eligible electorate in states such as New Mexico (37%), Texas (25%), California (23%), Arizona (17%), Florida (14%), Nevada (12%) and Colorado (12%).  

PUBLIC OPINION     The top environmental concerns for Latinos are air and water pollution.

•    In a 2008 national survey of Latino voters, “polluted air and water” were considered the most important environmental issues (51%), followed by “energy and global warming” (43%).  In a separate survey of Latinos and non-Latinos, water pollution is also the top environmental concern (53%), while air pollution and global warming rate lower (43% and 37% respectively).

•    Across California, air pollution has been considered the most important environmental issue since 2000.  Latinos are more likely to say that air quality has gotten worse.

•    About 57% of Hispanic registered voters call themselves Democrats or say they lean Democratic, compared to 40% in 2004.  Only 23% align themselves with the Republican Party.

•    Forty-five percent of Latinos think that Democrats can do a better job of protecting the environment, more than double the share that favors Republicans.  

NEWS MEDIA    Hispanic media  has grown substantially in recent years.

•    The Spanish-language broadcaster Univision is now the fifth largest network in the nation.

•    From 2000 to 2005, the number of local TV stations affiliated with Hispanic networks such as Univision, TV Azteca and Telemundo increased by 56%, outpacing the growth of the overall local TV market.  

•    The number of Spanish-language radio stations in the United States increased by 37% to 730 stations from 1998 to 2006.  

•    The number of Hispanic newspapers in the United States grew by 28% to 768 newspapers from 2000 to 2006. Over half of these are weeklies and community newspapers published in Spanish.  

•    Among Hispanic newspapers, weeklies showed the biggest growth in circulation from 11.1 million in 2005 to 11.4 million in 2006.  

•    Large Spanish-language dailies include La Opinión (CA), El Nuevo Herald (FL), and El Diario-La Prensa (NY) with audited circulations of 125,000 copies or less.  

•    Latinos who are online tend to be English speakers. The most visited news sites by Latinos include Yahoo! News, AOL News, MSNBC and CNN.  

•    Latino blogs have also proliferated. Sites such as Latina Lista (http://latinalista.net), Latino Pundit (http://latinopundit.com) and Latino Netroots (http://latinonetroots.net) cover lifestyle and politics.

NEWS CONSUMPTION    Most Latinos get their news from network TV.

•    On an average weekday, 88% of Latinos get news from network TV, 82% from local television, 58% from radio, 52% from newspapers, and 29% from the internet.  

Table 2. Top Hispanic TV Markets

Rank*    Market

1    Los Angeles

2    New York

3    Miami-Ft. Lauderdale

4    Houston

5    Chicago

6    Dallas-Ft. Worth

7    San Antonio

8    Phoenix

9    San Francisco-Oak-San Jose

10    Harlingen-Brownsville-McAllen

11    Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto

12    Albuquerque-Santa Fe

13    San Diego

14    Fresno-Visalia

15    Denver

*Ranked by Hispanic TV Households. Source: Nielsen Media Research – NSI, Jan 2008  

•    More than half of likely Latino voters (53%) get all their news in English, while 40% get news from media in both languages, and only 6% of likely voters get all their news in Spanish.  Most consumers of Spanish-language media are first generation Latinos.

•    Fifty-six percent of Latinos use the internet, compared to about 70% of whites.  

TO GO    Sí se puede!

Latinos are settling in places far from traditional immigrant strongholds such as Los Angeles - the Hispanic populations of states such as Idaho, Nevada and Washington are quickly growing. While traditional communications strategies apply when designing campaigns that include targeting Latino audiences, here are additional recommendations:

1.    Consider communities. As demographics change, it’s important to understand who lives where and how environmental issues might affect them. A proposed gold mine that will leach cyanide into Idaho’s Boise River and pollute Canyon County’s water supply is one example. A closer look at this rural community reveals that Latinos make up over 20% of Canyon’s residents. A campaign designed to engage the community to stop the mine, should consider specifically targeting Latinos who live there.

2.    Focus on spokespeople. Most audiences respond to stories that include people they identify with or trust. This means locating, working with, and training spokespeople well in advance of rollout. Key to success will be collaborating with experts and others from Hispanic organizations and communities. For example, in an effort to encourage U.S. Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO) to endorse reform of the 1872 Mining Law, Resource Media worked with Ignacio Rodriguez, a retired public health official and rancher, and long-time resident of Conejos County, where Salazar’s family has lived for generations. Rodriguez authored an op-ed that was published in the Pueblo Chieftain, the main newspaper in Southeastern Colorado, and a Letter to the Editor published in La Voz Nueva, Denver’s oldest bilingual newspaper.

3.    Highlight core concerns. Air and water pollution are the top environmental concerns for Latinos. Tying issues to these topline public health problems will be most effective when targeting these audiences. For example, the main point of an opinion piece on mining (above) was linking environmental reforms to the protection of clean water in the community.

4.    Spotlight the personal story. A recent story which aired on Radio Bilingue featured a domestic cleaner, Berta Naranjo, and her first-hand experience with the health impacts of commercial house cleaning products. Many listeners responded to Berta’s personal story and called into the show. Weeks later, Radio Bilingue aired additional interviews addressing the need for greater regulation of toxic ingredients in common housecleaning products. Key to both broadcaster and listener interest was Berta’s dramatic personal story.

5.    Think broadcast. Since most Latinos get their news from network television – which includes both English and Spanish language outlets –  it’s critical to target this medium. This means providing trained experts or messengers who are Latino or who resonate with these audiences, and visuals such as b-roll. If Spanish-language TV is a target, it is fundamental to provide reporters and producers with Spanish-speaking spokespeople.

6.    Pitch in Spanish and/or English. Make it easy for reporters in Spanish-language outlets to cover your issue by providing them with well-translated press materials. Although reporters who work for these outlets are typically bilingual, pitching in Spanish is often most effective.

7.    Think online. The growing audience of Latino blogs such as Latina Viva (http://www.latinaviva.com) and Nuestra Voice (http://www.nuestravoice.com) includes mostly young, English-dominant readers. To pitch a story, send key bloggers an informal, tailored and short e-mail instead of a press release.

8.    Track coverage. As Hispanic media grows, new monitoring services and resources are emerging. LatinClips (http://www.latinclips.com) for example, is one service that specializes in tracking print, broadcast and online news.

ABOUT NCI

Resource Media’s New Communications Initiative (NCI) is a program designed to increase and expand the understanding and application of new communications trends and technologies. NCI provides research and resources to help you and others in our broad community stay ahead of the curve.  The Feed comes out four to six times a year, and covers different aspects of today’s changing communications and media landscape. For more information or to subscribe, please contact Liza Pike at Liza@resource-media.org or (415) 397-5000 x307.

 * All sources in pdf version of this document.