Both parties’ candidates for president have made Latino voters a top priority. The nonprofit Chavez Radio Group’s seven-station network reaches Latinos in three states, including Arizona and Nevada, which will be very close elections in November. These stations fight false information that is meant to influence these voters.
Chavez’s Radio Campesina network includes Spanish-language stations like KNAI Phoenix, KYLI Las Vegas, and KUFW Fresno, CA. They have started an on-air campaign to warn Latino voters about false information and conspiracy theories about the election.
In one ad for the campaign, a Campesina morning host says, “Friends of Campesina, truth and unity are more important than ever in these elections.” “Do not let false information hold you back.”
Radio Campesina promotes these shows and reaches up to 750,000 people through their on-air signals or online, according to Maria Barquin, Program Director of Chavez Radio Group. On-air hosts and musical guests also talk about false information, answer listeners’ questions about voting, teach them how to spot false information and give tutorials on election processes like how to send in mail-in ballots. The network has also put on music festivals and rodeos to get new people to register to vote and talk about false information.
“People will come to listen to us because of the music, but our main goal is to give people power and knowledge through information.” “The music is just a way to get them to come in,” Barquin tells the AP. “In 2024, there will be a lot at stake for our communities. We are on the front lines of fighting false information.” This is why we need to step up our efforts more than ever.
Latinos have become more important to candidates than ever because, according to the Pew Research Center, their population has grown at the second-fastest rate of any major racial and ethnic group in the U.S. since the 2020 election, behind Asian Americans. They are expected to make up 14.7%, or 36.2 million, of all eligible voters in November, which is the highest share of any group so far.
Latino voters have grown in several key presidential and congressional races, including those that Radio Campesina reached. Democratic President Joe Biden said that Latino voters were a big reason why he beat Republican Donald Trump in 2020, so it’s not surprising that both parties are using radio and social media to reach them this year.
Radio Campesina has also tried to fight election misinformation by letting users call or text questions on the popular immigrant social media app WhatsApp. However, this app also attracts false information. The network worked with the Latino campaign group Mi Familia Vota in March for an on-air show and a voter phone bank to answer questions from viewers.
Angelica Razo, Deputy Director of Campaigns and Programs for Mi Familia Vota National, says that one way to fight this false information is to spread good information. “We know that there are many people who are not motivated because sometimes we come from countries where we don’t trust the vote,” says Carolina Rodriguez-Greer, the group’s director in Arizona.
